Once Upon A Klayley Christmas
by 225Starburst
Summary: As the first Christmas with Hope is drawing near, the Mikaelson family is ready for the holiday preparations. But it does not go as well as planned the minute Klaus becomes unwilling to celebrate Christmas with his family and each relationship has its own problems in New Orleans. Who will save Christmas? (Klaus & Hayley; Elijah & Gia; Marcel & Rebekah; Kol & Davina; Finn & Camille)
1. December 13th

**Klaus and Hayley have decided to spend a wonderful first Christmas with their daughter after they have finally managed to defeat their enemies, surrounding their city. **

**The two hybrids had grown closer and decided, for the sake of their child, that they should start a relationship, in a commitment, getting closer to one another and see if there could be anything between them. But there certainly isn't any peace in the compound, as there was in the rest of the city, as Christmas is drawing nearer and Rebekah is more determined to keep her family whole. **

She opened her eyes and looked around the place. It was morning and Hayley could just make out the snowflakes that were falling on the windows and all over New Orleans. She could feel something keeping her in place, preventing her from leaving the bed. It was his arm, which was wrapped around her waist. Hayley rolled her eyes and pushed his hand off of her, getting up and putting on a robe.

The first place she would go each morning was the nursery, where their little daughter was sleeping. Hayley smiled as she saw the baby's eyes slowly opening and looking up at her mother. She picked her up and held her in her arms, deciding to breastfeed her.

He got out of bed as soon as he felt that she was no longer there. Klaus groaned as he did want to sleep more now than ever. He had had a busy week, dealing with vampires and witches. He was still the King, and every King had his priorities. He didn't have time to think about anything else just yet, expect perhaps his daughter. But with the way Hayley had been keeping her to herself, he hardly ever got to see Hope.

Klaus thought Hayley was downstairs, which is why he decided to make a run for the nursery. The sight in front of him stopped any words that would come out of his mouth. Hayley was there, and she was offering her milk to their daughter.

Their eyes met for the purest of moments and Hayley smiled as she saw the expression on his face. "Tempting?" she asked him with a giggle and Klaus snapped out of his trance, and put on a straight face. He did not appreciate making much sex jokes nowadays. It was his way of entertainment, not hers. "As a matter of fact, I came here hoping that I would get a chance to be with her alone. I had not seen her all week." Hayley nodded as Hope pulled her lips away from the nipple and gently burped.

"I know that. You have barely seen anyone since we came back here with her. It is like you are once again possessed by this city. It's controlling you." She said as she put Hope back in her crib. Klaus chuckled but he didn't seem like he was happy by her remark at all. "What you seem to be forgetting is that you and Hope are the two reasons why I am out there, taking care of business. I am doing it for you. Not that you appreciate the effort, little wolf." Hayley scoffed. "And we are back where we started."

Klaus came over to her and pulled on her arm, making Hayley face him. "What is that supposed to mean?" "It has been 13 days, Klaus." Hayley whispered. "13 days of what?" "Since we decided that for Hope's sake, we would try to make a commitment here." "And we have done so. We spend time together and we do share the same bed, love. I don't understand what the problem is." "It's pointless. I don't see anything between us happening anytime soon and I don't think you do either. What is the point of this?" "The point of this is what you so bluntly suggested, _for Hope to see that she has normal parents in a normal family._ I hate to break it to you; sweetheart, but we are no ordinary family here." "We would have been, just like Rebekah wanted us to be, had you stopped being so occupied with your work and spend more time with me and Hope." Klaus groaned. "Do not bring Rebekah into this, little wolf." "Why shouldn't I? She has been more than willing to help out with Hope around here, which is more than I can say for you."

"Is this what a commitment means to you? You wish for your daughter to see her parents arguing? Is that what you wish for?" Hayley looked enraged and huffed, "What I wish for is for you to start opening your eyes and realize what is really important, especially with the holidays now. Christmas is in 12 days and I want Hope's first Christmas to be something that she will forever remember. What I don't want her to remember is you acting like a dick in front of her mother and the rest of this family." Hayley made her point. "You don't have to worry about that, because I'm not sticking around for this." Klaus growled and picked up his coat, leaving the house before anyone else.

Hayley sighed and rubbed her forehead, pulling the robe over her breasts so they would not be seen. There were footsteps that could be heard coming to the nursery and for one moment, she thought that he came back to apologize. But it was not him. It was Elijah. "Is something wrong? I saw Niklaus leaving." He whispered and looked at Hayley, troubled. She shook her head and explained, "We had another argument over his work as King and his responsibilities towards his daughter." Before Elijah could answer, Rebekah was at the door with a phone in her hand. "Elijah, Gia is on the phone." She told him with a smirk and Elijah took the phone from his sister right away, leaving.

"What is going on?" Hayley asked and Rebekah grinned, devilishly. "Gia is falling head over heels for him. The poor girl." "I thought that she was into Marcel." Rebekah cleared her throat and Hayley wanted to take her words back at once, remembering that Marcel and Rebekah were once again seeing each other. "She is not. It might have been something to cover up her interest in my brother. I don't think he has any idea, but I do like the baby vamp. She could be good for him, after long and traumatizing years of pinning after Tatia and then after Katherine. I feel Gia actually gets him." Hayley smiled at that, reminding her of her own relationship with Klaus. "That's good, I suppose." Rebekah sighed and put down a catalog. "12 more days until Hope's first Christmas. There is much to be done."

"Tell that to Klaus. He doesn't even want to hear it." Hayley scoffed and Rebekah frowned. "Yeah, I heard you guys arguing up here. What the hell? It's 7 AM. You could have disturbed Hope, you know?" "Yes, I know. I am trying to be the best mother figure for her, even if her father happens to be a downright bastard." "You told me 13 days ago that the two of you were starting some sort of commitment together. How is that working out for you?" "Terrible. The only progress that we've made so far is managing to get through a night, sleeping next to one another without…" "Ripping each other's clothes off?" Rebekah asked and laughed as Hayley frowned at her.

"Yes, that's my point, but not with the baby in the room. Her mind is like a sponge nowadays and I don't want her to pick up any words that we will regret saying in front of her." "Alright, fine! I mothered her for a couple of months. I thought that you would give me some credit for it, Hayley." "What you did for me and Klaus is something that we both will never forget, but we still have to be careful." Hayley dragged Rebekah out of the nursery and the two of them plopped down on the couch in the living room just as Kol entered the room with a big jug of beer in his hands. "Time for a drink. Will anyone like to join me?" he asked and sat down with a big grin on his face. He has been happier than ever before since he had gotten back into his Original vampire body. The whole family was pleased to have him again.

Hayley shook her head and whispered, "If you ask me, you should be focusing on your relationship with Davina. I heard it's not going well." "Hey, darling, it's not my fault that she decided to have a fit over this. I told her how I felt in this body. It's my body, I was born this way. She has to accept that or…we can say goodbye to this stupid mojo." Kol responded and started drinking. "Davina deserves better and if you don't get back together with her, I am going to rip your head off, Kol." Hayley told him, warningly. Kol shook his head and said, "I'm not interested. In fact, I am having some company tonight. I don't want to be disturbed so if you'll excuse me…" he went up to his room and Rebekah shook her head.

"He is going to break her heart again. I just know it." "What about you and Marcel? Still going strong or are there more bumps on the road for your epic and forbidden romance?" Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Things are fine for us. But you know how Marcel acts. Even though he loves me, there is always his precious city to take care of. Sometimes, I have to fight to get his attention." "It's not fair for you to have to live with that." "I know that. At least Cami doesn't have to." Camille was now giving Finn a chance to redeem himself of his actions and they have started seeing each other more regularly, but nothing really happened between them yet. "We should be welcoming her into the family soon enough." Rebekah said as she put a cup full of eggnog to her lips and tasted it.

The hybrid stood up and grabbed the cookies that were on the table to taste them. "These are good. You sure know how to prepare something festive for us, Rebekah. With all the drama, we are going to need you now more than ever." Hayley explained with a smile as she could hear Hope's regular heartbeat from upstairs. It wasn't fair that she had to endure the fights that her parents shared each day almost. Klaus was not about to change that anytime soon and he looked like he was more than willing to let go of this starter of a relationship, just like Hayley was.

The Original Hybrid stood at the bar and gulped down something as he stared at Camille finishing up her shift early. "I have to get going now. I will soon be taking a Christmas vacation. I can't have myself work during the holidays. You are going to find yourself a new bartender, willing to fill you up like this." She told him and he smirked as he drank some more. "Off to my brother, I see." Camille shook her head and said, "It really is not what you think. Finn and I are trying to find peace within one another." "I know he cares about you." Klaus stated bluntly. "And I care for him too. But I don't see anything between us. But that doesn't mean that we can't spend the holidays together."

Klaus growled as he heard that word again and Camille noticed. "Is something going on at the house that I should know about? Maybe something to do with Hayley?" "No. And even if it did, it would be none of your concern, love." Klaus told her and went right on to drinking. "Oh good! Marcel, you're here. Keep an eye on this one. He seems to be one step away from turning into the Grinch of New Orleans." Cami joked, grabbing her bag and leaving Rousseau's. Marcel chuckled as he took a seat at the counter right next to his partner in crime and looked over at him. "What's going on now? Don't tell me that Rebekah is pressuring you with the Christmas shopping too." "I do not wish to hear any more of that holiday, Marcellus." Klaus whispered to him and drank another gulp of his wine. "Why not? It's not like you hate Christmas, even though you haven't appreciated it enough for a couple of decades."

"Well, forgive me for having more important matters to attend to, like making this town safe for my child." "Hope is safe enough around here. Her parents are the most powerful supernatural creatures in the world. They're the only two hybrids in the world. Who can protect her better than you and Hayley? You are the most powerful parents in the world." "Perhaps. But protection is still not enough for her to have a peaceful life. She would still be living in fear." "So, why do you push Hayley away?" Klaus stood up ready to leave, when Marcel stopped him. "Come on, man! I just want to get this straightened out." "Has Rebekah asked you to do that?" "No, she hasn't. But she did tell me about you and Hayley."

Klaus sat back down and frowned. "What do you want to know?" "How did it come to this? She asked you for the sake of Hope to start a relationship which is more than just co-parenting. Is it just not working out?" "She told me so herself, Marcel. She can't stand having someone like me around. I am sure that she would have been much happier had she kept her sexual relationship with my brother." Marcel made a face and slapped his hands on his jeans. "So now I get what's bothering you. You're still not over the fact that she and Elijah slept together that night, right?" "I am not bothered by anything. She can do whatever the hell she wants. What does bother me is that she didn't think of Hope when she jumped on Elijah. She was reckless." "She was vulnerable." Marcel protected her.

"I don't think so. She then made everything possible to make sure that I found out about that one time thing. She loved my reaction. She loved that I was angry. She slept with Elijah for a reason and that was to make me mad or show me that she is more than capable of having men grovel at her feet…" "…or to make you feel the way she felt when you were prancing around with Genevieve." Klaus slammed the glass on the table and stood up. "That was business and she knew it." "Either way, she was pregnant with your child at a time when you slept with two different women and she was feeling like your incubator." Marcel explained. "I never made her feel that way." "You rejected her and looked at her with indifference, occasionally thinking only about the child growing inside of her, and not her too."

Klaus smirked and whispered, "Now I know for sure that Hayley came to you, didn't she?" Marcel shook his head. "Look, man, I used to have some of these problems with Rebekah. I know from past experience. I look at you and I see that no matter how much you deny it, you have feelings for Hayley but you refuse to let go of your pride and give in to this." "I feel nothing for her." "And now you're lying to yourself. I say you should take this opportunity with the holidays to think it over. Think about what you feel. Think very carefully. And don't let a chance like this go to waste. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Marcels stood up and revealed a long list, a couple of meters long and chuckled, "I have some Christmas shopping to do." And went out of Rousseau's, leaving Klaus bewildered at what he said.

**A/N: Next chapter will have more insight on each couple of this Christmas story. I guess, Klaus does act like the Grinch of New Orleans. Thanks for reading and please leave a review. **


	2. December 14th

**After you got the first taste, each one of these chapters are going to contain some couples that you might enjoy, but Klaus and Hayley remain the main pair and obviously, they will get more writing. **

**After his talks with Marcel, Klaus returns home to be with Hope when he gets confronted by Hayley. Elijah will meet up with Gia for old times' sake and discuss certain things about them, while Kol keeps bumping into Davina every time he gets chances to get laid. **

**December 14th:**

**Klaus & Hayley:**

Klaus could remember staying out all day and all night drinking up a storm at Rousseau's. He had tried calling Camille a couple of times, hoping that she would change her mind and give him the time of day again as she used to. But it seemed that she was once again too preoccupied to listen to his sorrows. Marcel had also called him, after some shopping and asked him to go home and get some rest. It was pointless to stay outside if he was that pissed. In the morning, deadly drunk, the Original Hybrid came home. The front door was open and he could easily get in, but as soon as he did, he fell to the ground.

A groan escaped his lips as he felt the pain rise into his brain. He may be an all-powerful immortal but drinking affected him just as much as it could affect anyone. "Klaus?" Came a whisper that he heard and he turned his head to see her blurry face. She looked like she had just woken up, with tired eyes and ruffled brown hair. She came over and picked him, taking him over to the couch in the living room. He could hear Rebekah's voice as well. "Oh, great! The perfect moment he decided to get drunk! I was just about to call him and tell him that he has some Christmas shopping to do." "He is not Marcel, Rebekah." Hayley's voice was heard again as he groaned from the headache. "I know but he is my brother. And he is behaving like an asshole. Leave him here to rest." Rebekah replied.

He reached a hand out, hoping that someone would grab it but no one did and he just stood there and passed out. Hayley stood there with her hands crossed over her chest and sighed as she saw him pass out into deep slumber. "Damn you, Klaus." She whispered and went upstairs as soon as she heard Hope crying for her milk bottle. "I'm coming." Hayley whispered and reached the stairs. The baby was there with a wild grin on her face. That grin reminded her of the way Klaus used to smile at her. Of course that was a very long time ago. Not that long, but long enough. She took Hope out of the crib and decided to breastfeed her. It was safer and she wanted her child to be healthy…but the more she stared down at her, the more the child reminded her of Klaus.

He had that grin on his face the day they decided to make their relationship official. Hayley couldn't understand how in just 13 days, they had managed to separate so much. He refused to speak to her and she would not tolerate his cruelty any longer. Who could tolerate that sort of cruelty, living with him under the same roof? But he had been extremely charming to her, which is why she wanted to make this work. Because she saw the potential. She saw the greatness in him. He was a King with pride, but he was protective and attractive. Hayley nearly blushed as she remembered that day with him.

"_I can see that you are keeping yourself occupied eying my brother, little wolf." He whispered from behind me and startled me as I turned around to face him. "I was not looking at him." She bluntly stated and Klaus smirked as he slowly nodded his head, looking at her from head to toe. To him, she was the most breathtaking woman at the party tonight. He was throughout happy. New Orleans was his…Hope was back into his arms and his family was whole again. "Power, loyalty, family. Can you believe it, little wolf? I have succeeded." "Yes, you have." Hayley responded, smiling at him, her cheeks turning pink as his legs began to feel like jelly and would have collapsed right there. _

_Before she could say anything else, he was right there in front of her, pinning her to the wall and they had been sped away from the crowd so no one would see them. He gently kissed her lips and she ran her hands over his chest, over his tux as he wrapped his hands around her waist. She kissed him back as she felt the pleasure rise in her. What was going on with her? Why was she behaving this way? She shouldn't. Not with Klaus. Klaus was not any good for her. Elijah was…but they weren't the same. She felt everything that she felt for Elijah, had just disappeared in a couple of months. "I am glad we get to spend Christmas with her this year." Hayley whispered between kisses as Klaus finally released her. _

_They lay their foreheads on one another as they breathed in deeply. He frowned as she smiled. "What are you talking about?" "This year…our first Christmas with Hope." "It was last year, love. We had that bonfire. You…I remember it perfectly well." Hayley bit her lip and said nothing as she looked away. She wanted to tell Klaus the truth about her and Elijah, but she never felt like she could. Every bone in her bone was telling her that she should not tell him, and keep him guessing. She shouldn't let her guard down. Not even now. "Klaus…" He kissed her again before she could continue. She let her lips mold onto his for a minute before pulling away as she felt his hands massaging her thighs under her dress. "What are we doing?" she asked in a breathless tone. "I have no idea, love." He responded and grinned at her. _

_He was in the mood for something. He wanted to be with her in that moment, but she was not going to just sleep with him. No, she couldn't. He could feel her rejection and slowly put her down and took a step away from her. Hayley rubbed her hands together and whispered, "I have a proposition for you." He smiled at that and stepped over to her, caressing her cheek softly. "Which is?" "I want us to have a commitment." Hayley responded. "As in…a relationship?" "Yes. I have been thinking about Hope. She would really benefit from having her parents together. I was hoping that we can try…for her." Klaus nodded and said, "What if nothing works out? Can you imagine what a scandal that will create?" Hayley nodded and said, "But something might come out of this. You never know." He smiled. He was in a very good mood, otherwise, he would have never agreed to this…but he did…because he wanted her. _

There was a knock on her door and Hayley noticed that Hope was already asleep in her arms, and had stopped drinking a while before. Rebekah entered the room and looked at Hayley for a moment before smiling. "Nik is still downstairs…asleep. What are you planning to do today?" Hayley sat up and put Hope in the crib. "I don't know what I should say to you. I know that you will convince me to go shopping with you eventually." "Well what do you expect me to ask you to do? It's just us. Elijah left early. I don't know where. Kol is probably out there, trying to find a hot date by Christmas and you and I are stuck here with a baby and a drunken passed out King." Rebekah explained and sat down on a chair.

"If we go, Klaus has to wake up and look after Hope. Otherwise, no. There is no one that I can leave her with." Hayley explained. "Would it be so bad as to give Davina a call?" Rebekah asked. "Are you kidding? You want to leave her alone here with Klaus? Do you realize that this house will be burning by the time we come back?" "Come on, Hayley! It's Christmas! Cheer up!" "Not yet it isn't. And no Christmas is going to outshine the pain we all feel in this retarded family." "Retarded? Thank you!" Rebekah scoffed. "You know what I mean." "Nik, huh? Just leave him with his drunk self. I am sure that he is going to see the light…one of these days." "I am not asking for us to be involved romantically…" "Then what did you mean when you asked him to have a relationship with you?" "It was a moment thing. We were…too happy and we…we were about to have sex…" Rebekah gasped as she sat back down. "Do tell." "No, thanks." "Come on! I love the dirty details." "You are not going to get them. Let's just go."

"So, you wanted a platonic relationship?" Rebekah asked, still confused, as they grabbed Hope and headed downstairs. They had called Davina and she would be here any minute to look after Hope. Hayley shook her head. "I want an involvement for Hope…but that doesn't mean that we would have to start acting like we're in love when we're not." "So, just in front of Hope?" "Yes. I think that was on my mind. I don't really know. The details are still blurry. I think I was drunk when I made that proposition. And he looked more than eager to sleep with me." "You two have always had that sexual frustration with one another." "Sexual frustration? What is that supposed to mean?" Hayley put Hope in a chair and ran a hand through her hair. "Don't play dumb with me, Hayley Marshall…" Rebekah warned her.

Hayley smirked and then laughed when the door opened and Kol walked inside, with a bottle of whiskey in his hands. "Oh no. Another drunken brother." Rebekah mumbled under her breath. "Hey, gals!" Kol exclaimed when he saw Rebekah and Hayley standing there with their arms crossed over their chests. "You better knock him out and place him on the couch along with Klaus, before I do it." Hayley insisted but Rebekah shook her head. "I have a better idea." The doorbell rung and Rebekah rushed to get it. "You're here! I'm glad!" She exclaimed when she saw Davina standing there with a smile on her face. "Anything I can do to help?" "We did call you. We have two drunken vampire brothers around here and a baby who needs special attention." Hayley explained and handed Hope to Davina. Davina eyes directed to Kol at that moment and was about to protest when Hayley and Rebekah already left.

**Elijah & Gia:**

There was nothing much that the holiday spirit could bring her. There was only something that she felt she left behind when she came to New Orleans. Marcel told her that she was destined to become a vampire. But she still believed that she did it out of desperation. She didn't want to become anything. She was just looking forward to letting go of the past and moving on to the future. It had been a year now…since her husband had died. He was too young to die. And he left her, hopelessly in the dark. Gia said to herself at that moment that she would never let herself feel that kind of pain again.

She was going to live through this and she was going to make it. Christmas was only reminding her of what she lost, but she hoped that it would soon remind her of what she gained in one year. Not just lost. She had a new status, a new home and new friends who looked out for her. And then, there was the noble Elijah, who has been speaking with her on the phone every day since the first training to be a vampire session. Gia could remember. There was something very magnifying about him the moment he whispered, _The head or the heart? _What was she supposed to choose? She went for the heart…because maybe that was what she was longing to have, a heart, beating just for her, after she had lost so much. Elijah had been very kind to her and she would forever be grateful to him for what he offered.

"Jingle Bells" rung all through the store and Gia remembered just how much she used to love the spirit of Christmas with the tree, the fireplace, friends, family, the spirit of Santa Claus and so on. "Fancying yourself some early Christmas shopping?" Came a very charming voice from behind her and Gia smiled slightly as she turned around and saw Elijah standing there, in his regular suite with a smile that did not reach his eyes, but still caring. "I didn't know that you were following me, Elijah." Gia said with a smile on her face. "I have not. In fact, I came here willing to ask you to spend the holidays with me." Gia raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? I thought you would spend Christmas with your family…and with Hayley."

She had heard it before, from Klaus. He had made sure that everyone knew of this…inconvenience that Elijah slept with the mother of his child. She knew damn well of the relationship these two have had. Elijah and Klaus have not seen eye to eye since. Elijah frowned at her comment and went over to her as she was putting Christmas decorations in a basket. He grabbed a hold of the basket to make her look at him. "I would like to assure you that nothing has happened between me and Hayley." "It did. I know all about it. Klaus already mentioned it." "But nothing has developed from that." Gia smiled and shook her head. This was something that she definitely wanted to avoid this Christmas.

"Listen…I don't want to have to go through this, okay, Elijah? Thank you for training me and helping me to be the best vampire that I can be but…" She ran a hand through her hair and continued shaking her head. Elijah stepped even closer to her and wrapped his hand around her arm, rubbing it gently with his thumb, making her shiver. "If I have done anything to upset you, I hope you understand that…" "Elijah, believe me, I understand what you want to do here. But it just can't work. I think that I want to spend Christmas with Marcel and the other vampires this year. Just me and them." "Forgive me if I have not seemed the most trustworthy person lately, Gia." "You have, but I am not interested in anything right now. Goodbye, Elijah." Gia whispered and left.

He was left standing there, with a frown on his face as he saw her heading to the cashier so she could pay for the decorations. Why was she rejecting him this way? What had he done to upset her so much? Was his former relationship with Hayley such a big importance to her getting closer to him? Elijah knew what he wanted. For once in his life, he wanted to have someone special with him for the holidays, someone other than his family. Someone else, someone who was his to have. Conversations and vampire training concluded for him the one thing he was feeling certain of: Gia was the one.

**Kol & Davina**

Davina sighed as she watched Kol drink up a storm in the living room. She was holding Hope in her arms and rocking her gently, thinking about what she should be doing. "Kol, you shouldn't be drinking! You have your niece here who is just a baby!" Davina called out to him. Kol was ignoring her, not giving a damn about what she was saying to him. His phone rang and he left the room, using his vampire speed to talk to that person. The little witch took a seat right next to a sleeping Klaus and rolled her eyes at the Original Hybrid. Taking care of Hope was something that he was supposed to be doing, while Hayley was out, not her. She had other problems on her mind, Kol being one of them. She could remember their fight from before.

"_What do you mean that you want to take back your body? It's not possible." Davina asked him, this boy she thought she knew, Kaleb, but as it turns out, inside of him was the one and only Kol Mikaelson. "I am not satisfied with this body, Davina. You have to get that. I want to be the vampire that I was before." "The obnoxious and selfish one? I thought you cared about me and wanted to be with me." "I do care." "Then why would you want to become immortal again?" "Because that is when I truly feel alive." "That is what you said about me." Davina snapped back to him. "I did, darling. You do make me feel like I've never felt before, but…" "No. In something like this, there are no butts!" _

_Kol got angrier and pushed himself against her. "What do you want me to do? You want me to spend the rest of my mortal warlock days in this body? That is not what I want. I want to be immortal, just like the rest of my family. That is what is important." "And what about that kiss? That meant nothing compared to what you want? Immortality!" "Argh, you're impossible." Kol said and left the room, banging on the walls in anger. Davina felt confused and worried for that one moment. How did they end up like this?_

Klaus Mikaelson stirred in his sleep and woke up to the sound of Kol laughing on the phone as he came back downstairs. He looked up and saw Davina sitting there, holding Hope. "What are you doing here? Where is Hayley?" Davina smirked and said, "Your _wife _is out shopping! You would have known that had you not slept your way into this house this morning! What is wrong with you? You should be taking care of this baby! Not me!" "Then what are you doing here? And she is not my wife!" "Hayley asked me to come here and look after her daughter, seeing clearly that you can't. I am not leaving now! Hope is staying with me." Kol came downstairs with a grin on his face as Klaus saw him. "What are you smirking at?" Klaus growled.

"Nothing, brother! But I guess tonight, I have a date." He dropped down on the couch and stared over at Davina for the first time. The little witch felt like she was going to start crying in that precise moment. What was wrong with him? How could he be so cruel to her?" She picked up Hope and went up the stairs and to her room, slamming the door shut. "Congratulations! You have brought more drama into this family. Exactly what we needed! Who is this girl you're seeing anyway?" "Princess." Klaus frowned. "I beg your pardon?" Kol scratched his head. "That's her name…or so I think." Klaus shrugged and got up. "Sounds trashy enough. But I am sure that is just a cover up for her to get in bed with you and make sure you don't contact her again."

Kol groaned and threw his head back in anger, "Hey, you got some problems with your damn wife, you better fix it and stop throwing your shit at me, brother!" he exclaimed and made Klaus turn back around and grab Kol by the throat, pushing him against the wall. "Let me make one thing clear to you, brother. Hayley is not my wife. We are not married." "You're still in a relationship." Kol said once Klaus let him go. "Not exactly." Klaus grabbed his coat and left the house. Kol whistled and whispered, "Happy holidays to me!"

**A/N: Next chapter will have Klayley again but it will reveal the problems of Cami with Finn and Rebekah with Marcel as relationships. Hope you liked this one. Please review and let me know what you think! **


	3. December 16th

**In the last chapter, things got a little steamed up between Klaus and Hayley as Klaus refused to stay sober and help with the preparations for Christmas. In this chapter, we are going to have a Klaus moment with Hope and then he and Hayley will have another dispute that will end…not the way you would expect ;) I guarantee you will love it. **

**The couples we will also be exploring in this chapter are Rebekah with Marcel (Rebel) and Finn with Camille (Fimille). Thank you for reading and fore reviewing! Happy Early Christmas!**

**December 16****th**

**Klaus & Hayley**

He woke up and looked around the place. Something did not seem right at all. Klaus rubbed his forehead with his fingers and realized that he had been asleep on the couch with a blanket covering him. He sighed as he looked at the calendar and realized that he had slept two days straight. He also remembered the many bottles of scotch that he had wasted. But this was the first time in his 1000 years on Earth when he slept for two days straight and had no idea what happened to him and to his family in the meantime. Klaus stood up and pushed the blanket off of him.

"Daddy!" Hope exclaimed as she saw him waking up. Klaus grinned as soon as he saw her smiling face, her mother holding her, not far away from the couch. Hayley was standing there, with a frown on her face, holding their one year old daughter in her arms. "Had enough?" Hayley snapped at him as he groaned and stood up, only to fall back down on the couch. "I am not in the mood, Hayley." "I'll say…I never seen you like this before. And do you know what day it is?" "No, I don't." Klaus replied, sarcastically. Hope giggled lightly in Hayley's arms which made Klaus smile.

Reaching out for her, Klaus saw Hope grinning even more, sucking her finger. Hayley took a step back with Hope and held out a hand to stop him from moving. Klaus was enraged. "What now?" "You are not taking her like this. First, you need to take a shower. You stink! Then, you can have her. And I'll have to make sure that you're sober." Hayley snapped at him, turning around and heading back to the nursery with their daughter. Klaus was standing there for one moment, looking confused at what she was doing to him. "How dare she do this? She is just as much my child as she is hers." He whispered and growled as he stepped into the bathroom and into the shower.

Rebekah laughed as she saw Hayley enter the nursery with a fury that can only be explained if she had been seeing Klaus a couple of minutes before. "He is so narrow-minded! He still doesn't understand that he has a child he needs to be there for. He can't just go around parading whenever he wants, with women and drinking until morning. I really thought he was past this, but I guess not." Hayley settled Hope into her crib and Rebekah handed her little niece a plush toy. "A cute little elf I found for her to get into the Christmas spirit." The Mikaelson sister explained as she showed the toy to Hayley too. "I don't think those are safe for her. It's for kids above three years."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Hope is not just a child. She is supernatural. We can bend the rules for once, can't we, pumpkin?" Hope giggled. "What am I going to do with him, Rebekah?" Hayley sighed as she took a seat and Rebekah played with Hope in the crib. "What you are going to do about my brother? I don't know but if there is one thing that I do know is that we are behind schedule. Have you checked out my Christmas list? We are behind schedule and Marcel is not answering my phone calls." Rebekah whispered, pissed as she pulled out her list that reached the floor. Hayley laughed and said, "I guess that he knows how you act around the holidays and he doesn't want to be stressed out."

"Marcellus knows how much Christmas means to me. It is the one time of the year when we all feel like an actual family." Rebekah explained. "But we had Christmas last year with Hope." "It's not the same, Hayley. We were all on the run from our devilish mother. Now, things are going to change that the town is at peace and that no good brother of mine better make sure that he keeps the peace or he is going to get his ass whooped." Hayley frowned and shook her head. "Don't remind me." "What did her say?" Rebekah asked. "He said that the reason he can't spend time with me and Hope is because he is busy keeping the town safe for us." Rebekah rolled her eyes. "This town is already safe. Nik is just emotional. That's what he does. He is afraid of getting close to people, especially around the holidays."

"But why does he have to act like this? I care about him and I want to spend Christmas with him and with our daughter. Is it really that much to ask from him?" Hayley asked and sighed. "Of course not. I get your pain. But maybe you can do something to bring up this spirit into him." "How do you suppose I do that?" Hayley asked. Rebekah smirked and whispered, "I say that you get yourself a sexy Christmas outfit and…" "No, Rebekah, no." Hayley whispered and shook her head. "Why not? You'll spur him up a little. What's so bad about that?" "Is that what you're going to do to Marcel?" Hayley asked, with a smirk. Rebekah blushed and rolled up her list saying, "You are the one who came up with the idea for the two of you to start a relationship. But it looks like you're distancing yourselves more than before. Why did you agree to this if you don't feel anything for him, Hayley? Even for Hope…"

Rebekah stopped talking as she saw Hayley look down a blush creep on her cheeks very slowly. She was biting her bottom lip, what she always did whenever she got emotional or nervous about something. "Oh my God! You do have feelings for Nik!" she exclaimed and Hayley immediately sped over and shut the door. She could hear the water running and she knew that Klaus was still in the shower. "I don't want to hear another word, Rebekah, okay?" "Why don't you tell him? He might feel the same way." "How can he? That is not…he is not…I am not…" She could barely find her words. "You feel something for him. I just knew it. And maybe he accepted this deal for the same reason. There is definitely something between the two of you. It has always been there. I could always see it."

"I am not going to do anything about my relationship with him." "Why not? Are you scared of how he might react if he finds out how you feel about him?" "Rebekah, I beg of you to keep quiet. I am just…confused." "I am sure Nik is too. Even for Hope, I don't think that he would have accepted to be in a relationship with you if he did not feel something. That might have been Jackson last year, but it is not Niklaus, Hayley." "Don't remind me about Jackson." Hayley mumbled under her breath. She could just remember that moment. The wedding was off. She couldn't marry him. She didn't love him. And her desperate actions and craving to be accepted and loved led her right into Elijah's arms. And Hayley could remember the night they slept together. If she would have thought about this last year, she would have felt pleasure but right now…she felt nothing.

She felt only regret of what she had done and the way Klaus reacted when he found out. "I know you and Elijah slept together but…" Hayley put up a hand before Rebekah could continue. "Nik keeps using that excuse that Hope was there and you are affecting her in some way but that is just crap, I am telling you. He was pissed, beyond pissed, period." She looked at the rolled up list in her hand and sighed. "As you can see, we have nine more days until Christmas and we have nothing done. I am going to take care of some things. See you later, Hayley." Hayley nodded as she watched Rebekah leave the room.

It wasn't long before the door opened once again and Klaus walked inside. He looked at Hayley and frowned. "Anything else you would like to complain about, little wolf?" Hayley looked up at him and sighed for one moment before standing up and walking to the door. "You can spend all the time you want with Hope. She is your daughter, Klaus. You have that right. But please just stop getting drunk this way and wasting time. Rebekah is already going mad because there are nine days until Christmas and there is so much that needs to be done. All I am asking for is a little understanding coming from you. Please…" Klaus' eyes softened as he watched her and he reached forward brushing his finger against her cheek, making her feet go jelly at the sensation running through her body. She had always felt this way around him. And after her talk with Rebekah…Hayley knew for sure how she felt. "I will…go." She whispered and turned away when Klaus grabbed her hand and whispered, "I'm sorry, love." "It's fine." Hayley said quickly and left, leaving Klaus bewildered.

Hope was sitting in her crib and she was giggling as soon as Klaus bent forward and started caressing her hand softly. "How are you, love? Has your mother worn you out?" he asked her gently and smiled at the way she was sucking her thumb. He had never seen her look more adorable than this moment. "I am so sorry that I have not been here yesterday, my love. I am going to make sure it that it does not happen again. Because at a time when everyone is preparing for the holidays…my little daughter deserves the best. And that is to have both her mother and father here to spoil her." Klaus smiled and gently bent forward in the crib and kissed Hope's forehead. Little did he know that Hayley was still standing outside the door, had heard everything and had seen everything with a smile on her face. She bit her lip as she thought about what Rebekah said to her earlier.

"_But why does he have to act like this? I care about him and I want to spend Christmas with him and with our daughter. Is it really that much to ask from him?" Hayley asked and sighed. "Of course not. I get your pain. But maybe you can do something to bring up this spirit into him." "How do you suppose I do that?" Hayley asked. Rebekah smirked and whispered, "I say that you get yourself a sexy Christmas outfit and…" "No, Rebekah, no." Hayley whispered and shook her head. "Why not? You'll spur him up a little. What's so bad about that?" "Is that what you're going to do to Marcel?" Hayley asked, with a smirk. _

_Rebekah blushed and rolled up her list saying, "You are the one who came up with the idea for the two of you to start a relationship. But it looks like you're distancing yourselves more than before. Why did you agree to this if you don't feel anything for him, Hayley? Even for Hope…" _

_Rebekah stopped talking as she saw Hayley look down a blush creep on her cheeks very slowly. She was biting her bottom lip, what she always did whenever she got emotional or nervous about something. "Oh my God! You do have feelings for Nik!" she exclaimed._

**Finn & Camille**

The holidays had come to New Orleans once again. During these holidays, Cami would just sit at the bar, watching the other have fun, while she just stayed indoors, or she preferred to work at Rousseau's to kill some time. She had lost a lot this year. Gaining, maybe some new friends and allies but she had lost her twin brother and her uncle. They were the only family that she had left. Who did she have now? She had Marcel. She smiled as she remembered how crazy this year had been for the two of them. Davina had become their responsibility and they had a passing sexual relationship. All led to the non-development of their relationship. They had fallen apart and even though Davina was still her friend, she was no longer her responsibility. She would have to find someone else to care for.

As for her and Klaus, Camille hoped that their sessions of talking and listening had helped him. She had seen the way he acted around Hayley. There was no denying their connection and chemistry, even though Cami always felt like she was developing feelings for the Original Hybrid. He had been there for her when there was no one and he helped her with her uncle and proven the world wrong. He was not a monster and he was not a terrible person. He just needed to be understood. Camille smiled as she thought of him. She was glad that she had his family and his priorities now. They would always remain friends. There was no doubt about it.

She stood outside of a holiday store and watched the many cute outfits for children to go out with carols. She was eagerly waiting to accept children at her doorstep. Helping them and offering them gifts was something that she was surely looking forward to. There were footsteps that could be heard behind her and Camille sighed as she felt his perfume. She knew how he smelled, and he was the last person that she wanted to see right now. Keeping the smile on her face, Camille turned around to leave, when she felt him grab a hold of her arm and keeping her steadily close to him. "Finn, let go of me." She snapped at him and he sighed as he did what she asked.

"I wasn't expecting to see you out here." He said. Finn had the chance to get his body back, but he had refused to take it. Camille had always wondered why. He had the chance to get back to being a powerful Original Vampire, like Kol had chosen to take his body back. Why didn't he? What was he planning? Should she understand something from this. "That is supposed to be my line, don't you think?" she asked him. Finn smiled and shook his head. "I am just here to get a glimpse of what holidays mean in this century. It used to be so different back then. People put more passion into what they do on Christmas. Now…that spirit…it's lost." Camille didn't want to speak to him but this was not something that she wanted to hear either.

"Nothing is lost, Finn. You just need to find a way to get back to what you liked to do before. You need to find a way to get back to your true family. I talked to Rebekah. She wants you to go to the compound. She wants you to be a part of the family like Kol is. Why won't you do it?" "Perhaps I have other plans." He responded, looking at her intensely. She felt what he was about to say. It definitely had something to do with her and what he was hoping to achieve from their relationship. "Well, whatever it is, I am not sure it is going to work with me." Camille responded and before he could say anything, she left already. Finn was left standing there, in the snow, contemplating on what he should do.

**Marcel & Rebekah**

Rebekah picked up her phone and called him again. What the hell was he doing. As soon as he answered her call, there was music that was playing in the background and she could just hear him and his vampire friends partying. "Marcel!" Rebekah snapped and Marcel started laughing. _"Hey, what's going on, Bekah?"_ he asked her and she put her hand on her hip. "Well, what's going on is that I am in the middle of a very important crisis and I don't know how I should be dealing with it. You have to get your ass here and help me because otherwise, I don't know what I am going to do."

"_Come on, Rebekah, can't I just have one night out with my pals?"_ "You and Nik always have nights out when Hayley and I are trying to work for this holiday to function. Hope is finally safe in the city she was born and the city that she is destine d to rule one day and this is how you want her to remember her first normal Christmas? You want her to remember how her father got drunk and slept for two days while her uncle is out partying his bloody ass off?" Another chuckle could be heard from Marcel as he said, _"You know you're so hot when you're mad."_ "Marcel, come on…do you really not appreciate anything I do for this family? Do you even want to be a part of this family?"

"_What is that supposed to mean? You know that I am and always will be family. You just have to take it down a notch. I know that you are trying to make this perfect but there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas. Just take care of the tree and some lights around here and there and that's it." _Rebekah's mouth was open. "What are you talking about? Are you saying that I need to just relax and let everything go to waste just because you want to have some fun and not want to work? You want me to have the shittiest lights and tree in the city?"_ "You are exaggerating! That is not what I want. What I want is for you to come to your senses and maybe I can have the woman I love back. And this is not Hope's first Christmas. She had one last year and that one was perfectly fine. It was anything but perfect, but she had her family with her and that is all that matters."_

"Marcellus, you have it in over your head. I am trying to do something nice for us for a change and I don't see you helping me at all." _"What about Klaus? What about Elijah, Kol or Finn? They are your brothers, aren't they? Why aren't they with you right now?" _Rebekah had reached her limit and without warning, she ended the call and ran a hand through her hair as she looked over her list and realized that there were so many things that were not checked. "What am I going to do?" she asked as a single tear slid down on her cheek and she tried to keep herself together. It wasn't like she didn't have so many people who could help her…but she wanted him to help her. They were in love. Marcel loved her and she loved him. Why shouldn't they work together?

Marcel sighed as he looked at his phone for one moment and stood up from his chair. Gia frowned at him and asked, "Hey, are you okay? Where are you going?" "I have some things to sort out. If you're looking for Elijah, he is in the back. I just saw him." Marcel told her and Gia scoffed. "He is the last person I want to talk to right now." Marcel rolled his eyes and left the bar.

**A/N: Next chapter will have some super-hot Klayley moment with the couples Gia with Elijah (Gilijah) and Davina with Kol (Kolvina). Thank you for reading and please leave a review! Happy Holidays! **


	4. December 17th

**In the last chapter, we have been presented a lot of difficult problems that have followed our favorite characters. Klaus and Hayley can't seem to find a balance in their relationship and work out their issues for the sake of Hope, while she can't help but feel like she is falling for him. What will she do in this part of the story? Will she find that balance or not? What will she have to do? ;) **

**After we have seen disturbance in the relationship between Camille and Finn, and some issues of trust and romance going on between Rebekah and Marcel, we are going to explore the evolution of Gia with Elijah as well as the evolution of Kol with Davina. Will they make it this Christmas?**

**December 17****th**

**Klaus & Hayley**

She may not have realized it but he had been thinking a lot about them. Sure, he was angrier than ever that she had this attitude towards him regarding Hope, but he was not going to forget who she was. He didn't want to make that mistake again. She was a very important person in the family. She was the mother of his child and a person that he dearly cared for. Hayley was after all, his little wolf. She was the one woman he needed in his life beside Rebekah. He needed her more than anything.

He growled as he thought about that day when he found out. It was out in the bayou. He was the reason why the wedding between her and Jackson was off. He had found a way to stop it for her own good. Hayley had no idea that Jackson had a plan of his own. He would have brought her down without mercy. Klaus shook his head as he remembered Jackson's last words before he had been exiled. _"You really have no idea, do you? She slept with Elijah!" _was Jackson's growl in anger. He had felt something heavily fall upon his heart at those words. He tried to push them out of his mind that night. Why would he care? But it has been a year since then. And things have changed more than they could have imagined. Things between him and his little wolf have changed.

_"I can see that you are keeping yourself occupied eying my brother, little wolf." He whispered from behind me and startled me as I turned around to face him. "I was not looking at him." She bluntly stated and Klaus smirked as he slowly nodded his head, looking at her from head to toe. To him, she was the most breathtaking woman at the party tonight. He was throughout happy. New Orleans was his…Hope was back into his arms and his family was whole again. "Power, loyalty, family. Can you believe it, little wolf? I have succeeded." "Yes, you have." Hayley responded, smiling at him, her cheeks turning pink as his legs began to feel like jelly and would have collapsed right there. _

_Before she could say anything else, he was right there in front of her, pinning her to the wall and they had been sped away from the crowd so no one would see them. He gently kissed her lips and she ran her hands over his chest, over his tux as he wrapped his hands around her waist. She kissed him back as she felt the pleasure rise in her. What was going on with her? Why was she behaving this way? She shouldn't. Not with Klaus. Klaus was not any good for her. Elijah was…but they weren't the same. She felt everything that she felt for Elijah, had just disappeared in a couple of months. "I am glad we get to spend Christmas with her this year." Hayley whispered between kisses as Klaus finally released her. _

_They lay their foreheads on one another as they breathed in deeply. He frowned as she smiled. "What are you talking about?" "This year…our first Christmas with Hope." "It was last year, love. We had that bonfire. You…I remember it perfectly well." Hayley bit her lip and said nothing as she looked away. She wanted to tell Klaus the truth about her and Elijah, but she never felt like she could. Every bone in her bone was telling her that she should not tell him, and keep him guessing. She shouldn't let her guard down. Not even now. "Klaus…" He kissed her again before she could continue. She let her lips mold onto his for a minute before pulling away as she felt his hands massaging her thighs under her dress. "What are we doing?" she asked in a breathless tone. "I have no idea, love." He responded and grinned at her. _

_He was in the mood for something. He wanted to be with her in that moment, but she was not going to just sleep with him. No, she couldn't. He could feel her rejection and slowly put her down and took a step away from her. Hayley rubbed her hands together and whispered, "I have a proposition for you." He smiled at that and stepped over to her, caressing her cheek softly. "Which is?" "I want us to have a commitment." Hayley responded. "As in…a relationship?" "Yes. I have been thinking about Hope. She would really benefit from having her parents together. I was hoping that we can try…for her." Klaus nodded and said, "What if nothing works out? Can you imagine what a scandal that will create?" Hayley nodded and said, "But something might come out of this. You never know." He smiled. He was in a very good mood, otherwise, he would have never agreed to this…but he did…because he wanted her._

Klaus smirked, remembering that passionate night which revealed everything that he wanted from her. He wanted her to feel this restless because she couldn't live without him. He looked around the house. It was dead in the night and he has not seen Hayley all day. What was she doing? Where was she? He was about to go and look for her because he was worried of what might have happened to her. Hope was in her crib and she was smiling wildly, making all sorts of amazing sounds that were music to her father's ears. He wanted to hear more, but he also wanted Hayley to be home and enjoy this night with him. Where was she?

Rebekah passed by the living room and watched her brother stand there, lost in space with a glass of bourbon in his left hand. She sighed in anger and dropped her list on the floor. "You know, you are not going to make much progress with her if you are just going to stand here and soak yourself up in alcohol all day." He took another swig and whispered, "What are you talking about?" "You know that I am talking about her!" "I do not need any advice from you at the moment, little sister. Kindly leave." "Fine! I already have an idiot that I need to put some sense into his mind. I don't need another." Klaus smirked as he heard that. "Trouble in paradise? Is Marcel tired of your obsessions with a petty holiday already?" he asked, as if he didn't know. Rebekah looked at him for one moment and then slowly shook her head in exasperation. "Just don't mess this up. You are already sitting on edge when it comes to your relationship with her." Klaus growled and stood up.

"I do not know what you are referring to. But if you're interested in destroying someone's night please do…" Before he could finish the sentence, there was a wail that could be heard from upstairs. Klaus took a deep breath and whispered, "Are you going to get her or am I, seeing as Hayley is not here?" Rebekah shook her head in amazement and exclaimed, "You are her father! What do you think the answer should be? You really are surprising me as each day passes. How can you just ask that? If Hayley were here…" Klaus ran a hand through his hair. "I am not going to tolerate your attitude towards me any longer, little sister and I won't be tolerating Hayley's either." Rebekah remained silent as Hope continued to cry upstairs. "There is little time until Christmas Eve. I am going to put up the lights on the house. Go get Hope and don't bother me, seeing as I am doing Christmas by myself this year."

Without another sound, she was gone and he was left with a growl threatening to escape his mouth as he went upstairs. Hope had stopped crying completely once she saw her father there. What was he supposed to do now? It wasn't he who normally calmed her down when she was crying. "Hayley." He whispered without realizing what he was saying. He stayed there and frowned, looking out the window. He realized that he needed to stay there, at least until Hayley came back and he would question her actions. Rebekah could already be seen outside, with a couple of workers that she had found. They were putting up lights and all sorts of decorations all over the compound. What exactly could be her problem? Why did she have to be so restless, stressing others for a perfect Christmas? Out of the many that Klaus had, he realized that none of these had ever been perfect. Each one of them had problems: family feuds, among others.

Then, he saw a car pull up in the driveway. It was her car! She was home! He growled as he stepped away from the window and thought about how she was going to give him a hard time again for not looking out for Hope properly. He heard her open the door and walk inside. She didn't bother coming up to Hope's room, even though he knew that this was what she would normally do whenever she was gone way for a very long time. He felt himself going mad the minute he realized that she could have been out with someone else. There was some noise that could be heard in the kitchen. Klaus looked over at Hope and realized that she was once again asleep. He sighed as he walked out of the nursery and went downstairs to see her. He had been longing to, all day.

Hayley looked in the mirror and admired herself, feeling another blush creep on her cheeks as she realized how stupid this all must seem. It was Rebekah's idea and she had decided to go along with it now. It was terrifying her of what his impression of this would be. She never wanted to make him uncomfortable with their relationship. She wasn't pushing anything and neither was he. They were just letting things go with the flow. But today she did realize that she had been way too harsh on him. She really shouldn't have said all those things to him about his relationship with his daughter and she shouldn't have made him feel bad about himself. She wanted to do the opposite. And she wanted this Christmas to be more focused on her, him and Hope. The family within the family.

The door to the kitchen slightly opened and Klaus was standing there, bewildered. In front of him, stood his little wolf that he had missed. But she was standing in grace and beauty. A dress that fit her so perfectly, the color of blood red and she had on…a Santa Claus hat. Hayley blushed as she saw the look of confusion on his face. He stared at her from top to bottom, before bursting out laughing. He had never seen her this way. She was beyond amazing. She was glamorous and looked even better with the Santa Claus hat on her head. He chuckled and Hayley continued to blush. But she couldn't play it like that. She couldn't be shy this time. She put her hands on her hips and smirked at him. "Like what you see?" she asked him and he chuckled once more, nodding. "I sure do, sweetheart." Dinner was also on the table, roasted beef, just for them tonight.

**Elijah & Gia**

She had followed Marcel's advice and she had gone to see him the other day, but he was already gone. Gia stopped by at the compound to ask Rebekah, Klaus or anyone the other day if they had seen Elijah anywhere but they didn't. She hoped that she hadn't said anything to him that could affect their relationship. That was not her intention. She just wanted to make sure that he understood that she was not planning on spending Christmas with him. She didn't want for them to be friends?

Was this complicated? Was it selfish of her to be feeling this way? Yes and yes, it was, but there was nothing that she could do to stop this feeling plunging inside of her. He had training sessions with her. More than she could count and they have all been amazing. Gia had always thought that there was something about him that was still unexplored. He was her mentor and he would mentor her any day. But their personal relationship had become non-existent since the discovering that he and Hayley slept together. She felt like she was lost and she had no way to go. She had lost someone that she really trusted with her life. Gia never felt this way before. That is why she was afraid.

It was Christmas time and she would have done anything at this moment to get her husband back and spend Christmas with him. She was eagerly waiting for that moment when she could be granted her Christmas wishes. She could have needed her husband right now. He would have been someone who would have cared for her. He would never have let her go. He wouldn't have. Gia decided that she was going to go back at the compound and lend a hand to Rebekah, who was claiming that she was doing Christmas all by herself.

The compound was looking beautiful and you could just adore the smell of the holiday spirit that was going around. Rebekah smiled when she saw Gia and went over to hug her. "I am so glad you came! I need all the help I can get." Gia smiled a little and whispered, "I know what happened with Marcel." Rebekah's smile disappeared but Gia quickly intervened because she didn't want to upset her. "I know Marcel and he really felt bad about the fight between the two of you. I know that it is none of my business but I think that you should talk to him, Rebekah. You may have misunderstood." Rebekah sighed and grabbed some mistletoe and showed it to Gia. "Do you know what this is?" "Yes, of course. Mistletoe." "What do people do under it?" Gia blushed and whispered, "They kiss." "Exactly. Do you think that is going to happen to an unstable couple? I don't think so."

Before Gia could say something to calm Rebekah down, she could hear the same footsteps that always seemed to wake her senses. Elijah was walking towards them. Gia caught her breath and immediately looked away from him as he caught her eye. Rebekah started screeching. "Elijah, where the hell have you been?" Elijah smiled a little and whispered, "Out and about, Rebekah. I had to clear my head." "Well, I need you and Gia is the only one kind enough besides Hayley who has accepted to help me. Tonight, this whole compound will be decorated and we can finally have the lights and Christmas decorations crossed off the list." "Just one element? My dear sister, how can you sustain yourself after such hard work? There is so much that needs to be done." There was some mocking in Elijah's voice that Gia caught but Rebekah didn't.

They had no idea how they did it but Elijah and Gia suddenly found themselves distancing from the other men who were working on the decorations and especially from Rebekah. "Where have you really been?" Gia asked as she walked through the enchanting white snow. "I have been away on some business…" Elijah began and Gia stopped walking and she crossed her hands over her chest. "Just some businesses…without letting anyone know? I was worried. We all were." She insisted and Elijah couldn't help but smile at that comment. He did like to have her worried for him. It was making him feel wanted, appreciated and alive. Something he hadn't really felt for a very long time. "I was in Mystic Falls. My interest had been to visit some old friends who deserve my greetings." He wanted to explain. Gia rolled her eyes. "From what I know, you weren't really liked back there."

"What seems to be the problem?" Elijah suddenly asked and pulled on her arm, bringing her much closer to him than expected. Gia gulped as she couldn't help but look down at his lips before meeting his eyes once again. "You could have told me you were leaving." "Were you interested in obtaining my time?" "No. I just…I wanted to talk." Elijah let go of her arm and looked at her seriously. "I am free now, as you can see. What do you wish to talk to me about?" Gia looked away and started walking again. Elijah was left with bewilderment on his face again. He had not had this from her for a very long time. He didn't wish for her to be this upset at him. He didn't know what he should do to make her feel better.

"Training sessions." Gia snapped when Elijah pulled on her arm again. He was not going to let her go. "What are you talking about?" "We need more training sessions. I want and need more training sessions, Elijah. I feel like I am falling apart, especially with the holidays around the corner." Elijah frowned the moment she said that. "Are the holidays making you feel uneasy about yourself?" "Yes. They remind me of everything that went wrong this year, everything that I have lost…and how I will have to start fresh. I need to be stronger than ever for myself now. I am a vampire and my emotions are…well, I really could use your help." "You know I would be more than happy to assist you." Gia smiled at him for a small moment before whispering, "Have a nice night." And walking away.

**Kol & Davina**

As it turns out, this girl's name was not Princess at all the way Kol had lied to Klaus and Davina. The girl was a well-known girl around New Orleans. Charlene was her name and she was absolutely gorgeous with huge round boobs and flowing blonde hair. Kol just loved to feed on her anytime he wished to. It was making the baby visits for Davina more and more difficult for her. She did turn up once in a while to visit Hope when Rebekah and Hayley couldn't watch her. But this time, it was different. While everyone was at the compound, Davina was sitting at the bar and looking at the way Kol had reserved a table for him and for that Charlene girl.

Davina scoffed and turned around to her drink. She was seventeen. She knew that she wasn't of age yet and she wasn't allowed to drink but what the hell? They were all supernatural. Nobody cared anymore. Not even her mentor, Marcel. Speaking of which, he saw her looking moody and went over to her. "Hey, little D. What's troubling you on this fine night?" Marcel asked her. "Shouldn't you be at the compound helping Rebekah decorate? I heard that she is pissed at you for ignoring her wishes." Davina replied without looking at him. Marcel grabbed himself a drink too.

"Rebekah and I are at odds right now. I know what she would have wanted from me and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to offer it in time. Now, I just feel like I am too late." "Why would you be too late?" "It's complicated. You will understand better later on. Now, it's just…" His eyes wandered over to the table where Kol had Charlene sitting, and he looked like he was kissing her neck. "Don't." Davina snapped and Marcel stared back at her. "What is he doing?" he asked, outraged. "He is trying to prove that he is all macho and stuff and that he can do whatever the hell he wants." "Are things that different between the two of you now that he has his old body back?"

"He is a vampire. Not just any vampire. He is the Original Vampire. He doesn't really care about how that makes me feel. He just wants to feel good for himself." "Maybe it's something that you should understand." Davina looked at him strangely. "What do you mean?" "Look, D. Kol may probably be the least favorite Mikaelson brother for me out there but…it's his life. He has been waiting to be a vampire for so long. Now, he had been given the opportunity and he is. Finn is not…for whatever reason." "He is no longer the Kaleb I knew. It's like the body changed him. I didn't think it was going to happen because he was always so nice to me and sweet and…I fell for him."

Marcel frowned. "He knows that and he is still willing to put you through despair? That just doesn't seem fair. And if he doesn't stop hurting you, he will end up on the other side of the planet." "No, please, Marcel, don't do anything. I don't want you to hurt him." Kol had interrupted his make-out session with Charlene the moment he heard Davina say that. He saw her now and saw how broken she felt. He growled as he hated the feeling in his heart for making her suffer, but it was what he wanted to do right now. And he wasn't going to stop for anyone.

**Klaus & Hayley**

Klaus smirked as he sat down at the table and enjoyed his meal. He was looking at her from time to time as she did the same. There was no doubt about what she wanted tonight. She was searching for forgiveness in his eyes and he damn well that. It didn't hurt to ask, though. "What is the special occasion, little wolf? Is there something that you would like to say to me?" he asked her. Hayley looked up at him as she was eating and smirked too, lightly shaking her head. "Fine, since you have it all figured out…I wanted to apologize to you for the way I snapped at you these past few days. What you did in front of Hope was still wrong, but I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have said something like that to you. You are her father and I know that you are a very good father to her. I should just…keep my mouth shut." Klaus set down the fork and whispered, "No. That is not what I want from you, Hayley. I want to hear you…your opinion. That is why I should be the one apologizing."

"Are you sure about that?" Hayley asked as she stood up from the table and took the dishes to the kitchen sink as soon as they were both done eating. "I am more than sure, love. I have been acting inappropriately to two of the most important people in my life and I should be saying that…I am sorry." Hayley smiled at him as she placed the dishes in the sink. "I am glad that you feel that way." Klaus continued smiling as he stepped over to her and deliberately brushed a finger over her soft skin, making her shiver at once. She stepped back but looked deep into his eyes and didn't say anything. They were letting their eyes do all the talking.

"You didn't have to dress so much for this, love." Klaus whispered seductively as he started caressing her back as her hands touched his soft chest. Hayley didn't say anything as she continued to look at him in the eyes and the next second, she bent over and kissed him softly on the lips. He kissed her back with the same passion as he had that night a few days ago. Reaching up inside of the dress, Klaus managed to take it off of her, dropping it on the floor but he chuckled as he decided to keep her Santa Claus hat on her head. She smiled too, making him feel warm inside as he connected his lips to hers once more. He moved down her jawline and to her neck, sucking deeply on her skin and making her moan out his name in pleasure.

The night was still young and there were many people making crashing sounds outside with Rebekah and the decorations. Hope was fast asleep in the nursery and the two hybrids didn't give a damn about anything else any longer. Klaus slowly laid her down on the bed and kissed on her thighs, pulling down her black undergarments and her bra, leaving her completely exposed to him, as that seductive and yet sweet smile, never left her face. He went back down and kissed her neck softly, as she was pulling off the rest of his clothes, leaving him in absolutely nothing. He covered both of them with the blanket and lived a very long and blissful night together. One they will surely remember.

**A/N: Next chapter will have the aftermath of the Klayley make-up and what they will think of their little get together in the morning. We will be getting back to Camille with Finn and Marcel with Rebekah in the next chapter. Thank you for reading and please leave me a review!**


	5. December 18th

**Previously, Klaus and Hayley had each of them moments with their family members, especially Hope, their darling daughter. But is everything really going according to plan for Hayley? She did manage to seduce the Original Hybrid and they once again slept with one another. But what will happen between them now? Will they develop something and move along with their relationship? **

**The next two couples coming up now are Camille x Finn and Marcel x Rebekah. Finn is determined to prove to Camille that he deserves a second chance at being happy as Marcel tries hard to make Rebekah understand the true meaning of Christmas, not believing it is him who has to make her see.**

**December 18****th**

**Klaus & Hayley **

She opened her eyes and she felt like it had not been long ago that she felt his strong arm, covering her up with the blanket. Hayley smiled as she felt her back pressed onto his hard chest and he was breathing sweetly down her neck, making her feel more relaxed by the second. The light shone from the window, making everything feel so magical and beautiful. The young hybrid girl realized what had happened at that moment. They had given into their passion and slept together again. They had wanted to go through with this for so long. The tension between them had been unbearable to contain. She had to let herself go and she had to be with him that night.

He stirred in his sleep and she gently turned around to watch him with his eyes closed. He looked almost…angelic. He had never seen him look so peaceful. No, she never has. She looked around at the clock and realized that it was late in the morning. The compound was empty and Hayley was beginning to wonder where Rebekah had left. Hope would also be waking up any minute now, demanding to get something to drink, like her milk. And the lights…the compound was probably all decorated right now. Excitedly, Hayley was ready to get out of bed when she felt strong and firm hands grab her from the back, keeping her still. Hayley smiled a little as she felt his lips brush over her shoulder.

"What seems to be the rush here, sweetheart?" Hayley sighed as Klaus continued to brush his lips onto the shoulder on which she knew, was her birthmark. "Hope needs me to feed her now." Hayley whispered, covering his hands with her own as she grant him more access to her neck. He began placing gentle kisses on there, making her sigh. She had felt before that perhaps what happened between them was a dream, a desire of theirs…but it wasn't. And she was so completely happy that she was with him. But how long could this go on? It was too much and too soon. What would happen to Hope if they start to indulge in these sexual desires? She was hoping for a bit more than what he was offering. She didn't want to have this sexual relationship with the father of her child. She didn't deserve to be used.

Hayley finally snapped out of her thoughts and pulled away, shocking him at her rejection. "Have I said something to upset you, love?" he asked her with concern on his face. "I am not that type of girl, Klaus." She finally said and stood up from the bed, putting on her robe. Klaus stood up and started putting his clothes on as well, put refusing to place a shirt on himself quite yet. He didn't want her to just walk away from him after last night. He was still stunned by what a night he had with her. He felt…happy. It was that simple. Normally, he would feel pleased or satisfied after a night like that, but there was light on his face, that he hadn't felt for a very long time. He was happy to be here with her. He was happy with what she had arranged for the two of them the other night. It just proved that she cared for him…she cared for him and she wanted him to be with her. She wanted him to spend time with her and Hope. "What are you talking about? What type of girl?" he asked her. "You know damn well what I am talking about. I am not your next Genevieve. I don't hop in bed with you whenever you like. This…is not going to happen again." She was suddenly angry, making him feel even more confused.

He stepped in front of her before she could leave the room. Hayley raised her eyebrow. "Something you would like to share with me, Klaus?" He decided to not say anything and just stare at her, but not with shock or surprise…with desire. She could suddenly sense it and looked away as she began to blush. "Something you would like to share with me, little wolf?" he asked her and came forward, kissing her hard on the lips. She responded to this kiss fast enough. It reminded her of the pleasurable moments between them the other night. She had never felt this way when she slept with Elijah. When she was with Klaus…things were far more interesting and electric. She smiled as he continued to kiss her and she responded, his arms sneaking around her once again and keeping her balanced. "You may want to forget about last night, but I don't." Klaus whispered against her lips as they pulled away from each other. She was not sure of what she was going to say to him.

"Klaus…we don't have…we can't be in a relationship. After last night, I am starting to realize it." "Why not?" Klaus asked her, fury showing on his face. "Because all you care about is sleeping with women. You have not once settled down for one alone who you could love and care for. It's just impossible for you. And I can't give my heart out to you like this." Klaus rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, getting even angrier. "You were the one who suggested this. It was not me, little wolf." Hayley bit her lip and looked away from him. "I know that." She managed to whisper. "So, what is the problem?" he stepped over to her and held her hands. "What is bothering you, love?" She pulled away from him and went to look out the mirror at some children playing in the snow.

"We will always be connected…through Hope…but I have come to the conclusion after last night that this was a bad decision. Hope doesn't need her parents to be involved romantically to make it work." Hayley told him and that made Klaus' mouth drop in shock. "So, you are going to take back what happened between us last night?" he asked her, rage filling up inside of him. Hayley bit her lip as she tried her hardest to make him understand. "I will always care for you. You know that, Klaus but…I can't see you involved with someone in a serious relationship. I just can't. And I'm afraid that soon…you will come to resent me if we keep this sexual relationship going. Besides, this is not what I want. I want to be loved. I don't really need the sex. You can have that with other women like you used to do with Genevieve but never with me. I won't do that."

There were loud voices that couple be heard from downstairs as Hayley and Klaus eyed each other carefully. He really wanted to say something to her at this moment, but his pride was getting the better of him. He couldn't say anything. He felt too…unprepared. "Of course I don't wish for you to be just some woman I sleep around with. I care about you, love…" Klaus began and Hayley put up a hand. "I know, but it's just not enough. And what is in fact bothering me is that I know you too well." She put on a sad smile as she stepped over to him and put her hand on his chest. "You are never going to settle with just one woman for your whole eternity. There will always be others. You have to find a woman who is strong enough to go through that. I am strong. I know I am a Queen to my people but I am not emotionally strong for something like this, especially not after what happened to me when I was just a child." Klaus was putting on his shirt and listening carefully to what she was saying. The door opened and Davina's head poked inside and she pushed herself out at once.

"I'm sorry! I am just here for Hope! I didn't mean to disturb you two." Davina was saying and Hayley smiled, opening the door wider. "It's okay. Klaus and I were just finishing up our talk. You can take over the Hope business for today and thank you for giving up your time to do this for me, Davina. I hope it's not bothering you." "No, I like to watch her grow. She will be giving into her witch magic soon enough. I want to see it happen when she does gain these abilities." Klaus growled and turned around, staring at himself in the mirror, before turning around to leave. Davina raised her eyebrow and looked at Hayley. "Is something going on between you two?" "We're fine." Hayley whispered.

Kol and Charlene were in the living room the moment Klaus stepped inside and grabbed a bottle of bourbon, drinking it all up and washing away his fury. Kol laughed when he saw him and said, "Whoa, take it easy there, brother! You are being a bad influence. Next thing you know, I will be doing the same thing." Klaus turned around and looked over at the blonde who was sitting with Kol. "You are still going out with her? Why don't you just end your silly little game now Kol and get Davina off my back?" Kol's eyes widened when Klaus said that and so did Charlene's. "You're trying to get back at that little witch, aren't you? You are just using me!" Charlene exclaimed in anger. Klaus rolled his eyes and left but not before he could hear Kol, compelling Charlene to forget everything.

Marcel entered the compound and saw Klaus looking down. "What's up?" Marcel asked. There was not a smile on his face. There was so little time until Christmas and so many problems that he had to solve. "What are you doing here?" Klaus asked him, simply. "I had to come. Rebekah has not spoken to me since two days ago when we had that fight. I am trying to make her forgive me about what I said about screwing up a perfect Christmas, but I can't seem to find the right touch to the apology." He put one hand on his hip and he rubbed his head with the other one. "And I am guessing that you are having women troubles too. What happened with Hayley?" That was the moment Klaus remembered her gentle touches and kisses from last night. It was all too good to be true. He could have won her over…and then he blew it. She would never change her mind now. He chose not to answer to Marcel and decided to leave for Rousseau's. The alcohol was the only good thing for him right now.

**Finn & Camille**

He saw her going to work again. Stalking women was not usually his thing. It was more of a habit that Kol had picked up over the years. But this time, he wanted to make sure that he got to see her in action, because she wouldn't open up to him like she had before. Camille opened the door to the bar, letting her blonde hair flow on her back as she took off her dark red coat and hanged it somewhere. She was back to working in the bar…when every other person was on holiday vacation.

Finn decided that he would give up this personal research of his. He was going to go and ask her himself about what she preferred to do now that Christmas was just around the corner. She had left him too abruptly a couple of nights ago. He didn't even have time to tell her the truth of why he wanted to stay human now. Kol had gotten his body back. Being Kaleb, it did suit him, but not enough for him to actually want to remain in that body. As for him, he liked Vincent and what he had represented in Cami's life. He liked how she had opened up to that Vincent. But she wasn't going to open up to him, to Finn.

Camille saw him standing in the snow outside of the bar and just looking at her from the outside. She tried to ignore his gaze and get to work…but she couldn't. He continued to keep his eyes on her, making it impossible for her to please customers. She looked at him for a moment and waved, not sure of what she should do. At that moment, Finn stepped inside and took off his jacket, sitting down at the counter to face her. "What is going on now?" she asked him. "I would like to…ask you something." Finn began saying and that surprised Cami as she raised her eyebrow and continued washing up glasses.

"What do you need?" she asked. "Why do you continue working? It's beautiful out there, with the snow. There are children who are having fun, houses being decorated and snowmen are made. Why are you still working here?" "I don't see how that is any of your business." Camille snapped at him. "Listen, I did not mean to offend you. I was just curious." Cami sighed and whispered, "Finn, Vincent…whoever you are, when are you ever going to stop including yourself in my business?" "When you tell me the truth." "Why do you think that I should be answering any of your questions?" Finn smiled at her for a moment and whispered, "You're unhappy. I want to change that."

She remained frozen for that one moment when she didn't know what she should be saying to him. She shouldn't be giving him such hope that something might happen between them. It was not going to happen." But he wasn't going to leave and she had been asked something. Camille served another drink as she finally spilled out, "Since I moved here, this all I have done. I have been sitting in bars on holidays, hoping that the people around me would show me a good time. It has not been working. Now, this year, I managed to lose my twin brother, Sean and then right after that, my uncle. They were the only family that I had left and the reason I moved here. Now…they're gone. And I have nothing left to do." "Except work here when you should be celebrating Christmas?" Finn asked her, feeling sorry for her.

"No…I…just leave me alone." Finn refused to leave, even after she said that. "I have asked you a question, and you have answered it for me. Now, it is time for you to ask me a question." Finn replied as he grabbed himself a bottle of wine and poured in a glass the right amount. She looked like she was contemplating the idea. Finn shrugged and whispered, "You have the right to ask me whatever you want to know…and I shall gladly answer it to you." "Fine. Why did you choose to keep this body of yours? Why not go back to being the Original Vampire, with the rest of your family." Finn smiled sadly at her before whispering, "Because I don't think that there is room enough for me…and I was hoping…that you would give me a second chance, to prove to you that while I was Vincent, our conversations were no lies. Everything was real, Camille." Before she could answer, Klaus was seen walking through the door and Camille looked worried for him and excused herself, going to speak to him.

**Marcel & Rebekah**

Rebekah was sitting in the kitchen, doing something that she always forgets she could do: bake cookies. It was a wonderful feeling when you knew that you were doing it for someone, and she was doing this for someone. She was doing it for Hope and for Hayley. She was hoping that these two would have a good Christmas because after the year they've both been through, they deserved it. A tear slid down on her cheek as she thought about someone else. Why would he refuse to be supportive of her? Why would he just ignore her wishes and beliefs? He had tried to call her yesterday after the fight they shared two days ago, but she didn't answer. She didn't want to answer him. Not after everything that he had said to her about how little the Christmas she was trying to make perfect meant to him.

She felt soft lips being pressed against her neck and she shivered for a moment before quickly, turning around shocked. She would have smelled him out or even felt him, with her vampire senses, but she had been too worried, thinking about herself and what would happen this year with all of the members of her family. "Please, let me explain." Marcel whispered and Rebekah turned back around. She didn't want to look at him now. He was making her feel guilty about their argument. "Just refrain from touching me when I am trying to think. Thank you." She whispered. "What are you thinking about?" marcel asked with a smile, sliding his hands on her body until they reached her hips. He was swaying her back and forth, trying to offer her comfort as she cursed herself for smiling at this.

Marcel felt her pry his hands off of her and turn around to face him. She had on that pouty look on her face that she always did when she was mad at him. He used to believe it was a bad habit but after the years passed and she looked at her every time, he realized just how adorable she looked. "Baking are we? I didn't know you were interested in baking." He reached out a hand and grabbed a cookie, biting into it so that he could get a taste, when he frowned. Rebekah smirked as she showed him the syrup that she added. It was not syrup at all. It was pure blood. Marcel ate the entire cookie and grinned at her, chuckling a little. "You have it all figured out, don't you? There is nothing stopping Rebekah Mikaelson from making a Christmas as perfect as this one. What else do you got?" She raised an eyebrow at him, suspiciously. "You really want to know?"

He was not even listening to her. He was trying out more of her cookies, which could only make her smile. She sighed and continued crossing things off of her list. "I am going to get everything done by Christmas Eve. I am sure I will. Even though I could use a little help, you know." She eyed him questioningly and Marcel frowned as he pulled the list towards him and read some more from it. He shook his head, whispering, "You really don't have to do this, Rebekah. I think it's too much to deal with." "What are you talking about? Didn't you hear what I want to do this year? I want to make things perfect for Hope." "Everything is perfect as long as there is snow outside, the Christmas spirit in the inside of the house with the whole family surrounding her. You used to know about this."

"That just shows how little you know about how things get done nowadays. It's not like it used to be." Rebekah told him and frowned again. Marcel kissed her cheek and whispered, "You were not here the Christmas two years before. You have no idea how it was like. It was the least perfect Christmas in the world. But everything was perfect for me and my guys…because we had each other. And this Christmas, I finally have you back in arms again." He kissed her lips softly before she pulled away angrily and said, "Well, you won't for much longer." And she stormed off, leaving him amazed.

**A/N: Sorry I had to cut short this one but there is plenty more where this came from. The next chapter, we won't have much romantic Klayley as that is on the outs for now but we are going to have family Klayley with Hope as she wants to see a snowman being built at the compound ;) And we will be getting back to a Gilijah training session which can go…all the way ;) and a confrontation between Kol and Davina. **

**Thank you for reading and please leave me reviews!**


	6. December 20th

**I love your responses which is why I will continue for a while this Christmas Special. I have a special plan of how Klaus will realize the true meaning of Christmas, while Rebekah also has to learn that Christmas doesn't have to be perfect to make it work for the family. **

**As Hope wants a snowman to be made in the compound, Klaus and Hayley are faced with the difficult decision of working together to make it happen, after what they've been through, but Klaus does not seem to understand that point of making a snowman. Elijah and Gia prepare for another new training session that will end up in a way that neither one of them expected. As for Kol and Davina, things will be taking a twist, as Davina battles with Charlene, and then takes her rage out onto Kol. **

**December 20****th**

**Klaus & Hayley**

Hayley was holding Hope in her arms when Rebekah walked inside with a smile on her face. "You will be happy to know that I have managed to do in a couple of days something that no one ever managed to do in such a short period of time." She said, proudly as she showed Hayley the whole list which had plenty of checks. "And what is that?" she asked. "I managed to create the perfect Christmas for us. With only five days left until that one special day for Hope, the only things that we are missing are snowmen, the menu for the Christmas Eve feast and of course, a Christmas tree." Hayley shook her head in amazement as Hope giggled. "I can't believe it. You actually pulled this off. I am proud of you."

Rebekah grinned as she sat down by her side to watch Hope. "At least I have two people who understand what I am trying to put together here." "What do you mean?" Hayley asked her. "I have been having problems with Marcel again." Rebekah whispered. "What happened now? What did he say?" "He said that I am trying too hard and that I should be focusing on more important things. What is that supposed to mean? Isn't this important? After all the drama and heartbreak, we are a family once again. How is this supposed to be something to not think about?" "Maybe he thinks that you should focus on your relationship with him, as much as you focus on making this Christmas perfect for us." Hayley suggested. "Well, he can say that. He should stop criticizing me."

"Well, he is just like Klaus. They both lash out at people without making them understand what they really want." Hayley explained and sadness washed over her the moment she remembered what had happened with Klaus two days ago. They had not spoken or seen each other since then. He had been arrogant and stubborn with her. She thought that he would understand what she was feeling. It was true that she had suggested that they started a relationship for the sake of Hope, but she didn't want to become his sex partner and then just leave it at that. She deserved better. But she knew one thing for sure: she wanted to be with him. She was falling in love with him, the father of her daughter. "He can't love me back." Hayley whispered and Rebekah heard her. "What?" she asked and Hayley snapped out of her trance. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"What did Nik do this time?" Rebekah asked Hayley, without even thinking that the problem could be anything other than her stubborn and reckless brother. "Nothing. We had a passionate night…" Hayley began and Rebekah's eyes widened. "That's great! That's a great start!" "I refuse to become his girl in need, the one he goes to whenever he needs someone to screw. I am the mother of his child. I gave him Hope and I gave him love, opening up his heart. I deserve more than that." "You think that he is using you?" "I know he is." "How do you know?" "Because before we slept together, he hasn't showed me any signs that he wants to be in a relationship with me. We are attracted to one another…" "…like magnets." Rebekah finished and Hayley rolled her eyes. "Yes, exactly like that. But I don't know what to say. I am very confused and I can't think about being the kind of mother to Hope…that would just have an affair but not a real relationship. And it's not just about Hope. It's about me too."

Rebekah was listening closely to what she was saying and secretly took out her phone, recording Hayley's voice as she whispered in heartache, "I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I…" She started laughing as she placed a hand on her forehead. "I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!" She finished her speech, taking in a deep breath and trying to think about everything that she had said. Rebekah closed her phone and ended the recording without Hayley seeing.

"How am I going to survive this Christmas? I don't really think that I can." Hayley whispered and Rebekah shook her head. "Yes, you can. You were meant for this and you can do it. You were meant to give your daughter her perfect Christmas with her family. Personally, I say that we let go of the romance drama for now and focus on this family." She suggested and Hayley agreed with her. "I think that is for the best." Hope was giggling in her arms and Hayley couldn't help but smile at the child that she was holding. She could remember how much she and Klaus have both been through just to get their daughter home. This was what mattered at the moment. It was Hope's moment. The rest would have to wait for after Christmas. Rebekah sighed and stood up. "Now if you don't mind, I have a menu to arrange." "Thank you, Rebekah…for listening." Hayley whispered. "You're welcome."

"What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to fix this?" Klaus asked Camille as they both sat at the bar. They have been speaking to one another for the past two days and thought that they would reach a conclusion about what there needed to be done about Hayley, but she hasn't been able to help him. "How do you feel about her?" Camille asked him. Klaus growled as he pushed the beer to the floor and looked away from her. Cami smirked and whispered, "I guess you do have feelings for her. That could be one thing frustrating you. You haven't felt this way about anyone before, have you? I see the way you look at her, Klaus." "That might be true, but I am not going to be the one to subdue. She was the one who accused our passionate night of being just another one night stand." "Why didn't you try to convince her of your feelings?" "She is stubborn and she thinks that she is right about everything." "So, there really is something serious going on between you two. It's the holidays and you have a child together. For Hope, you can try to be a family and work together during this Christmas."

Klaus smirked at her suggestion. "And how do you suppose I do that? She won't even talk to me." "Do something for you, her and Hope. Try to help her have fun during this time of the year. Think of something that you can do together." "There is nothing that I can think of. Rebekah has always been the one really fond of Christmas, not me." Camille frowned. "And why not?" she asked. "Because, it is not my thing." "Christmas is everyone's thing. Maybe that is also something that is affecting your relationship with Hayley. You don't get into the holiday spirit. Try doing that and make her feel better when she is upset. Don't make her feel like she is all alone." Klaus rolled his eyes as he noticed Finn looking at them from a distance and whispered, "I think that you should go back to my jealous brother over there and let me worry about Hayley and Christmas." Before getting up and leaving the bar.

He saw her in the nursery with the little bundle of joy in her hands. They were both smiling, making his heart flutter. Klaus looked away in sadness for one moment before he entered the room, the pride reappearing on his face. Hayley looked up at him and her smile vanished at once. She had not seen him for days and now, he reappeared before her. "Are you here to be with her?" Hayley asked him as she looked away. Hope gave her father the biggest grin and she was pointing outside and small noises fluttered out of her mouth. "What are you pointing at?" Klaus whispered as he stepped forward and looked outside and saw snow and people making snowmen. "It seems she would like to have a snowman around here." Hayley whispered as she looked at her daughter with so much love.

Klaus smirked as he remembered the conversation between him and Camille. He really wasn't in the mood for this. He had never made a snowman but…for Hope… "I am going to do it." Klaus said and went out, leaving a confused Hayley behind. She immediately followed, put on her jacket, dressed up Hope and the two of them went out to see what Klaus was up to. There was an epic and surprising look on Hayley's face as she watched Klaus add up all the snow that he could, using his hybrid strength and agility. Hayley bit her lip as Hope giggled in her arms and clapped her hands together. "Klaus, what are you doing?" she asked him in a whisper. "I am going to make my daughter happy for one day. She asked for a snowman and now…" He rubbed two fingers together and some vampires came over and started working, gathering up more snow and making it into the shape of a snowman. "…she is going to be made the biggest snowman in town." Klaus responded with a smirk on his face.

As the vampires were close to finishing this grand snowman at super speed, Hayley put down Hope and went over, slamming herself into this big pile of snow, spreading it all around and destroying the snowman. There was a look of shock on everyone's faces as they went back to work and Klaus grabbed Hayley by her hands and growled, "What the hell are you doing?" "Hope does not want servants making her a snowman. She wants her father to do it with her! It's far more special but I see that is something that you just can't understand." She pulled away from him and Klaus rolled his eyes. "I personally don't see any difference at the moment, love but if you are willing to stop my intension of building a snowman for my daughter, then go right ahead and do it yourself." Hope was starting to cry as she was on the snow. Hayley immediately picked her up and rocked her gently. "Now look what you did, Klaus."

"What I did?" Klaus roared and Hope started crying even more as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "Enough is enough. If you don't want to help our daughter have the Christmas that she deserves, then that is fine with me. Leave it all to Rebekah and to Gia to solve that problem. And don't be surprised when no one wants to spend time with you on Christmas day." With that, Hayley grabbed Hope and the two went back inside. Klaus was standing there, looking shocked at the way she had yelled at him. His intension was to make Hope feel better and help her get into the Christmas spirit, as Cami suggested. He wanted to use this so he could get to see more of her and of Hayley. "No effort is ever enough for her. What she prefers is someone like Elijah, the perfection." Klaus mumbled under his breath and kicked snow around, as Hayley watched him sadly from inside the house.

**Elijah & Gia**

Gia placed the coffee on the table and she started drinking some the moment she felt like she was tired. Elijah had her practicing her moves for a couple of hours now, and she still wasn't improving. He was walking around the room and looking at her from time to time, trying to hide the smile that was appearing on his face. "You know, we are never going to make a progress if we don't evolve. That is something natural when it comes to life. And you…you need to prove to me that you are worth my time." Gia rolled her eyes as she finished her coffee. "Alright, Captain Obvious but one thing that you should know about me is that I am a slow learner." Elijah chuckled. "We will have to change that."

She was ready for another attack as she punched him in the stomach and threw him against the wall. Elijah couldn't help but chuckle again as she was all over him and trying to snap his neck, like he had taught her. But she could never possibly be fast enough for an Original Vampire. Gia smiled up at him and that one smile had made him lose his control over her, as she tripped him and he fell on the ground. Gia was throwing legs and punches but Elijah was not going to be let so easily defeated. He was on the ground and immediately, he grabbed a hold of Gia's leg, flipping them over so that he was on top of her. This gesture had only made Gia feel more uncomfortable around him than she had before. Elijah was breathing in hard and looking at her deep in the eyes as she looked at him.

He was not realizing what he was doing when, without breaking eye contact with her, he started running his hand up and down her stomach, gently sending shivers around her and butterflies in that stomach. She closed her eyes for one moment before opening them again, and showing nothing but deep lust on her face. Elijah could no longer stand the tension. It was too much for him. Before he could lean over to her, there was a door opening and slamming and Marcel entered the place. Elijah immediately pulled himself off of Gia and helped her stand up. Marcel stopped in his tracks when he saw them looking uncomfortable and pointed at the door. "Oh, my bad! I didn't think that there was anyone here. I thought…never mind. How are you doing, Gia? Elijah is training you well?" he asked.

Gia slowly nodded her head; feeling like she couldn't speak at that moment and Elijah's touch on her stomach was still there. "How are you, Elijah? I haven't seen you around the compound lately. I know Rebekah could surely use your help right now. She's a real mess." Marcel was saying and Elijah smiled. "I am sure that she has you to help her, Marcel. I have decided I would be taking a break now around the holidays." "Is that so? And what will you be doing if you're not going to spend Christmas with your family? You know Rebekah is going to make a scene when she hears this." Elijah sighed and whispered, "I am sure that she will understand. Following the events that had occurred this year, I realized that it is time that I found some time for myself, now that Niklaus has found peace and happiness."

Marcel chuckled. "Oh, yeah right! He and Hayley are fighting up a storm at the compound. There is nothing stopping them." The moment she heard Hayley's name, Gia started feeling terribly uncomfortable and took a couple of steps back, getting back to the coffee that she was drinking. Marcel nodded and said, "I get the message, Gia. I will leave." Before she could protest, Marcel was already gone. Elijah turned back towards her and clapped his hands together. "I am sure that you are ready for the next round." He whispered and before he knew it, Gia had already thrown a fist at him and Elijah caught it. "You got that right!" she exclaimed and they started throwing punches and kicks at once another. It had been exactly thirty minutes that they had been doing this. There was no winner and Elijah was impressed that she was finally able to be his equal in a fight like this.

Just one moment it took for her to lose control the moment when Elijah touched her hip and Gia was thrown ono the ground and Elijah had her arm wrapped around her leg, looking down at her in a bit of a shock. Gia was breathing in deeply as she left her hand on Elijah's chest. It was like they no longer had any control of what they were doing. Gia slowly picked up her legs and wrapped them around him the moment that Elijah leaned over and crashed his lips against hers, kissing her passionately. He picked her up in his arms and headed the two of them upstairs, where they found a huge bed and they dropped on it. Gia ripped open his shirt and took off his suit as he was pulling at her pants and finally managed to get them down. They lips connected once more as Elijah ran her hands inside of her and pulled up her shirt, leaving her in just her bra and underwear. He got on top of her and started kissing her neck as he went in between her legs and spread them widely and she moaned out his name.

Gia took a moment of control to speed them the other way. She got on top of him and kissed him once more, leaving him to run his hands up her back and unclip her bra, throwing it onto the ground. She left a couple of kisses down his chest as Elijah flipped them once more, kissing one of her breasts and making her moan in pleasure at his gentle and yet sexy touch. She was blissful for one moment and she thought about all the things that she could experience with him. The desire she felt for him is something that she had never felt before. He managed to make her forget about all of her problems and he was forcing her to think about him and only him. Elijah gently massages her breasts as he closed his lips over hers once more and placed gentle kisses. She started to feel odd and a feeling of guilt washed over her as she remembered how her husband loved her and touched her this way. She couldn't do this.

Before Elijah could get ready to enter her, Gia slowly pushed against his chest, making him stand on the bed and get off of her, shocked. "Have I upset you?" Elijah asked slowly, leaning over to kiss her again but Gia stopped him. "No, it's not that. It's just…Elijah, I really can't do this. I can't find myself being able to just sleep with you now…it's too much for one day." She was trying to find a good excuse but she couldn't. Now, he knew that something was bothering her and he would not stop until he found out. He watched her put on her bra and underwear as well as the rest of her clothes and walk out. He laid his head against the pillow and thought about how he was going to get her to open up to him.

**Kol & Davina**

Davina walked inside the compound, through the snow, with milk and cookies in her hands. Rebekah welcomes her inside and whispered, "It's good that you are finally here. And thanks for the milk." Davina nodded and handed her the cookies that she had bought. "No problem. What has been going on here? Have I missed something?" Davina asked, knowing that drama was the number one thing in the Mikaelson family. Rebekah rolled her eyes and said, "Well apart from Nik being a dick to Hayley, Elijah missing, Kol acting like dick number two and Finn acting like he is not a member of this family, everything is fine." Davina laughed and said, "How is Hope?" "Hope is doing much better but it would have helped if her father had just made her a snowman today."

Rebekah decided to explain to Davina the whole story as she led her into the kitchen. Davina had agreed that she was going to help Rebekah bake and prepare the menu for the Christmas Eve feast when they were going to have the whole family at the table. She and Cami were also considered part of the family now so they were invited too. As they were baking and laughing, the door opened and in walked the blonde girl, dressed in a pink dress, showing off her boob job, Charlene. "Hey, you guys! What is going on around here?" she asked with her hands on her hips. "We're busy." Davina told her with a fake smile. Charlene rolled her eyes as she stepped forward and said, "Relax. I just want to help."

The Original sister had no problem with Charlene and insisted on getting more help so she could make a success of this Christmas, so she accepted the girl into the baking group. "I need more flour. I am just going to run down to the shop and get some. I hope they haven't closed up. But even if they have, I am sure that I'll just find someone I can compel to hand over what I need." Rebekah said and winked at Davina, who smiled. "You girls finish up. Don't wait for me." She insisted, before leaving. Davina was ready to grab a knife to cut something when Charlene snatched it from her and started to cut what she needed herself. "What is wrong with you? I was going to use that!" Davina snapped at her and Charlene was looking at her innocently. "Sorry, Davina, but I know that you are not the expert in cooking here. I thought that I would get things done faster." Charlene explained to her with a fake smile.

Davina dropped everything what she was doing and faced Charlene menacingly. "I don't think that you are aware that you are dealing with one of the most powerful witches in the whole of Louisiana!" The girl pulled back and from the kitchen and yelled, "KOL!" Davina gritted her teeth the minute she saw Kol coming into the kitchen with a wide grin on his face. "What seems to be the problem here, darling?" he asked Charlene as the blonde grabbed a hold of him. "I wanted to help with the cooking, Rebekah agreed but Davina didn't and she took advantage of Rebekah leaving and attacked me." Kol chuckled when he heard that and calmed her down. "Why don't you go upstairs and I will meet you there in five?" he asked her with a wink and she seductively smiled before leaving the kitchen. Davina was disgusted as she crossed her hands over her chest.

"And what seems to be your problem now, sweetheart? A tad bit jealous of my new friend, are we?" "New friend? She is not your friend. You are just sleeping around with her." Kol shrugged. "That may be true." "That may be true? You are using this girl for your own sexual desires, which is disgusting, especially when you have a family to think about and a niece to look after. You wanted to be a vampire again and you got your wish. I don't see you doing anything about protecting Hope. Both you and Klaus disgust me and that will never change!" she moved to get out of the kitchen but Kol stopped her. "I didn't appear to be disgusting to you when I was in Kaleb's body. Now that I have chosen this one because I feel better in it, you choose to criticize me. I am a vampire. It is who I am." "And I understood that. But I just told you that I can't accept it easily." "Then when will you accept it?" Kol growled. "Is that what you are really waiting for? You want me to be with you as a vampire?" "I have never asked you to turn into a vampire to be forever with me. I asked you to understand my wishes. I can choose to forget what we shared in the past very easily, darling. And you can do the same. The question that I want to ask you is this: Are you really ready to let go of our past?" "I am." Davina stated and left.

**A/N: The next chapter will follow Klaus meeting up with Elijah and discussing Hayley. Camille crosses paths with Finn again as he tells her his most daring wish for Christmas. Marcel will surprise Rebekah with something, but she will not be as pleased as he hoped she would be. **

**Thank you for reading and please leave a review for me! **


	7. December 22nd

**A new adventure will be waiting for Klaus starting this chapter. Someone unexpected will visit him, in order to make him understand that Christmas is the one moment in life when he gets to tell the people he cares about and loves what he feels for them. Will this help his relationship with Hayley? Will this surprising visit help him reconnect with Hope around the holidays?**

**Finn is convinced that he has the perfect surprise for Camille to make her feel like she can be part of something special despite everything she had lost this year. Marcel and Rebekah will have a heart to heart discussion about their relationship after Rebekah finds something unforgiving. **

**December 22nd**

**Klaus & Hayley**

The snowman did not help him and Hayley. It would no longer help him reconnect with his daughter. He could feel at that moment that he was close to losing them both. There was no possible reason that he would want that. He was in his room, watching the snow falling from outside the window and thinking about current events. Hayley refused to sleep in bed with him for two nights in a row. This made him angry. What did one little incident have to do with everything else? He had no idea about these things and he really wasn't getting in the holiday spirits like he should have. Why should he care?

There was a knock on the door and Klaus looked startled. He looked towards the door and he saw Hayley standing there in a beautiful purple transparent nightdress. Her hair was let loose and she was brushing it, without looking at him. She came inside and went directly to the bathroom. Klaus waited impatiently until she came out when he asked, "Why did you bother knocking?" Hayley looked at him, surprised that he was speaking to her and whispered, "Well, this is your room, isn't it?" "As I remember correctly, love, this is our room. We share this room and we normally should be sharing this bed!" He exclaimed and pointed his finger to their king-sized bad that she always loved to sleep in. Hayley sighed and went over there, lying down. Klaus felt something hard drop on his heart when he saw that.

"I am not forcing you to sleep with me, little wolf! Stop making me look like the guilty one around here for not understanding your bloody holiday!" Hayley stood up at once, her eyes flared with anger. "I came here because I wanted to make peace with you and just go back to the way it was before, for the sake of Hope. She has started to notice the rift between us and I don't want that anymore, which is why I am going to sleep here with you tonight. Like you said, we share the room and the bed. I am not making you guilty and if you think that I would actually obey you when you order around, you are mistaken. You're forgetting who you're speaking to." Hayley replied and dropped back down on the bed in anger, pulling the duvet over her and closing her eyes tightly. Klaus smiled a little as he looked at her and sighed as he went to plop down on the other side.

How could he possibly resist her? She was breathtaking in her nightgown, with her wonderful hair flowing freely around the pillow and a part of it was tickling his skin. And her scent…there was no way that Klaus would be able to sleep next to her tonight without… He pushed the thought out of his mind when he remembered how angry he was with her at making him feel like the bad guy in his relationship with Hope. It was not the first time that he had felt this way. He could remember how she had attacked him when she was with Elijah. The two of them just loved to gang up against him. He shut his eyes tightly and concentrated on sleeping…but he couldn't. All he could think about was her, her beauty, how tough she was, how irresistible she was, how smart she was. Hayley was his match…his mirror. He had always known that and the reason why he tried to keep away from him. He knew he would end up falling in love with her, truly in love. The thought scared him, and he wished that he wouldn't let himself love her. He would only cause her the pain she didn't need or want.

Without realizing what he was doing, he turned towards her so that he was facing her back and gently brushed a finger over her exposed shoulder, the shoulder where he could clearly see her birthmark, the sign that showed her true nature. She was not just a werewolf or a hybrid; she was a Queen, a Labonair. He brushed his hand over to her waist and used both of his hands to gently pull her towards him. There was no denying his attraction to her any longer. Not thinking, he leaned over and pressed a lingering kiss on the shoulder where her birthmark was. Hayley's eyes flared open and she stood up on the bed, as Klaus removed his hands from her waist at once. "What are you doing?" she asked, shocked. "Nothing." Klaus whispered before turning around and going to sleep. He could feel her lying back down again and going to sleep too. He couldn't believe what he just did.

Waking up in the middle of the night was not his plan, but he did and he had no idea why. Everything seemed different. The sky was darker, and he could barely see around the room, but he could still feel Hayley right next to him, fast asleep. "Hayley." He whispered and gently shook her, but she didn't budge. He frowned. She couldn't be that asleep. "Hayley." He insisted and shook her harder, but she still didn't move. "She can't hear you!" A voice exclaimed, making Klaus jump. Right next to the window, stood a shadowy figure. "Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" Klaus asked, outraged as he stood up from the bed. The moon reflected inside the room, making everything seem clearer. The spitting image of Ansel, Klaus' long dead werewolf father stepped into view, making Klaus' eyes widen.

"What are you doing here? You were supposed to be dead! And what have you done to Hayley?" Klaus asked him and Ansel gently smiled at him. "She is just in deep sleep, just like the rest of your family. I have been watching you, Niklaus, for a long while since I've died. I've seen what you've been through and I have seen the potential in you to have a family who loves and respects you. For that, you need to understand one of the most important holidays of the year. Christmas." Klaus chuckled as he heard that. "Is this some kind of a joke of yours? I don't need any help in realizing anything. What I do realize is that you have some nerve coming over here in the middle of the night and ordering me to do something that I do not wish to do, sending my whole family in deep sleep, in the process." He finally growled.

Ansel smiled at that and clasped his hands together. "In case you forgot, I am your father and I have every right to help you, as you are my son." Klaus chuckled and said, "I am not going anywhere with you." Ansel shook his head. "We are not going anywhere. Tonight, I am going to present to you your past. You will be able to see it through your own eyes and see things that you haven't took the time to analyze. It may sound like a joke to you, but it will definitely make you understand the things that truly matter around the holidays. Take my hand, Niklaus." Klaus was not taking him seriously and he continued to look at his father for one moment before he took his hand and closed his eyes. Upon opening them, Klaus realized that he was in a different room of the house. "Where the hell are we?" he asked Ansel. "Why don't you look around and see for yourself?" Ansel tried his patience but Klaus did as he asked and he looked around, noticing himself standing outside of the nursery, where Hayley was breastfeeding Hope. Ansel came over to him. "December 13th. You remember this moment, don't you?" Klaus growled and whispered, "Of course I do." "Watch it carefully." Ansel told him. "And do what?" Klaus groaned as he watched his past go inside the nursery, paying attention to the exposed breast that was Hayley's. "Think about what you said to her and what she said to you."

"_Tempting?" "As a matter of fact, I came here hoping that I would get a chance to be with her alone. I had not seen her all week." Hayley nodded as Hope pulled her lips away from the nipple and gently burped. "I know that. You have barely seen anyone since we came back here with her. It is like you are once again possessed by this city. It's controlling you." She said as she put Hope back in her crib. Klaus chuckled but he didn't seem like he was happy by her remark at all. "What you seem to be forgetting is that you and Hope are the two reasons why I am out there, taking care of business. I am doing it for you. Not that you appreciate the effort, little wolf." Hayley scoffed. "And we are back where we started."_

_Klaus came over to her and pulled on her arm, making Hayley face him. "What is that supposed to mean?" "It has been 13 days, Klaus." Hayley whispered. "13 days of what?" "Since we decided that for Hope's sake, we would try to make a commitment here." "And we have done so. We spend time together and we do share the same bed, love. I don't understand what the problem is." "It's pointless. I don't see anything between us happening anytime soon and I don't think you do either. What is the point of this?" "The point of this is what you so bluntly suggested, for Hope to see that she has normal parents in a normal family. I hate to break it to you; sweetheart, but we are no ordinary family here." "We would have been, just like Rebekah wanted us to be, had you stopped being so occupied with your work and spend more time with me and Hope." Klaus groaned. "Do not bring Rebekah into this, little wolf." "Why shouldn't I? She has been more than willing to help out with Hope around here, which is more than I can say for you."_

_"Is this what a commitment means to you? You wish for your daughter to see her parents arguing? Is that what you wish for?" Hayley looked enraged and huffed, "What I wish for is for you to start opening your eyes and realize what is really important, especially with the holidays now. Christmas is in 12 days and I want Hope's first Christmas to be something that she will forever remember. What I don't want her to remember is you acting like a dick in front of her mother and the rest of this family." Hayley made her point. "You don't have to worry about that, because I'm not sticking around for this." Klaus growled and picked up his coat, leaving the house before anyone else._

Having this necessity brought by his father to watch this memory, made something heavy drop on his soul, not only his heart. Ansel didn't stop there. Klaus had to watch the tears that were slowly falling from Hayley's cheek after their argument. Ansel frowned and whispered, "You didn't have to be so cruel to her." "She gave me no choice. She was being ungrateful of everything that I had provided for her and Hope up until this moment." "Yes, everything except love and attention. You can see now that is what Hayley was craving and still is." Klaus shook his head and said, "I don't see the point of all this. It is not like this is going to change anything for us." "We will see." Ansel whispered and changed the image. Klaus recognized this one as if it were yesterday. It was the morning after their passionate night, when Hayley had ended their sexual relationship once and for all. "December 18th." Ansel whispered.

_Hayley was ready to get out of bed when she felt strong and firm hands grab her from the back, keeping her still. Hayley smiled a little as she felt his lips brush over her shoulder. "What seems to be the rush here, sweetheart?" Hayley sighed as Klaus continued to brush his lips onto the shoulder on which she knew, was her birthmark. "Hope needs me to feed her now." Hayley whispered, covering his hands with her own as she grant him more access to her neck. He began placing gentle kisses on there, making her sigh. _

_Hayley finally snapped out of her thoughts and pulled away, shocking him at her rejection. "Have I said something to upset you, love?" he asked her with concern on his face. "I am not that type of girl, Klaus." She finally said and stood up from the bed, putting on her robe. Klaus stood up and started putting his clothes on as well, put refusing to place a shirt on himself quite yet. "What are you talking about? What type of girl?" he asked her. "You know damn well what I am talking about. I am not your next Genevieve. I don't hop in bed with you whenever you like. This…is not going to happen again." She was suddenly angry, making him feel even more confused._

_He stepped in front of her before she could leave the room. Hayley raised her eyebrow. "Something you would like to share with me, Klaus?" "Something you would like to share with me, little wolf?" he asked her and came forward, kissing her hard on the lips. She smiled as he continued to kiss her and she responded, his arms sneaking around her once again and keeping her balanced. "You may want to forget about last night, but I don't." Klaus whispered against her lips as they pulled away from each other. She was not sure of what she was going to say to him._

_"Klaus…we don't have…we can't be in a relationship. After last night, I am starting to realize it." "Why not?" Klaus asked her, fury showing on his face. "Because all you care about is sleeping with women. You have not once settled down for one alone who you could love and care for. It's just impossible for you. And I can't give my heart out to you like this." Klaus rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, getting even angrier. "You were the one who suggested this. It was not me, little wolf." Hayley bit her lip and looked away from him. "I know that." She managed to whisper. "So, what is the problem?" he stepped over to her and held her hands. "What is bothering you, love?" She pulled away from him and went to look out the mirror at some children playing in the snow._

_"We will always be connected…through Hope…but I have come to the conclusion after last night that this was a bad decision. Hope doesn't need her parents to be involved romantically to make it work." Hayley told him and that made Klaus' mouth drop in shock. "So, you are going to take back what happened between us last night?" he asked her, rage filling up inside of him. Hayley bit her lip as she tried her hardest to make him understand. "I will always care for you. You know that, Klaus but…I can't see you involved with someone in a serious relationship. I just can't. And I'm afraid that soon…you will come to resent me if we keep this sexual relationship going. Besides, this is not what I want. I want to be loved. I don't really need the sex. You can have that with other women like you used to do with Genevieve but never with me. I won't do that."_

_"Of course I don't wish for you to be just some woman I sleep around with. I care about you, love…" Klaus began and Hayley put up a hand. "I know, but it's just not enough. And what is in fact bothering me is that I know you too well." She put on a sad smile as she stepped over to him and put her hand on his chest. "You are never going to settle with just one woman for your whole eternity. There will always be others. You have to find a woman who is strong enough to go through that. I am strong. I know I am a Queen to my people but I am not emotionally strong for something like this, especially not after what happened to me when I was just a child."_

Klaus growled and turned away from the image and back to Ansel. "I won't watch this anymore." He told him. "Well, you don't really have a choice. The night is young and I might have plenty more things to show you. I have so many memories of yours that could use some revising." Ansel told him. "Let me go, now! I told you that I will no longer watch any of this!" Ansel looked at his watch and whispered, "Perhaps it is time that you went back. It would seem like the past is not actually helping you as I thought. We will need to proceed with the present tomorrow. I will be looking for you, son." He told him and Klaus' eyes widened. "No, I don't want…" But a smokescreen was upon him before he could say anything, making it impossible for him to see anything.

He was gasping and breathing hard, as he woke up hard on his bed. The figure of Ansel was gone and the room looked normal once more. He could see her move beside him and she finally opened her eyes, looking at him as she sat up on the bed. "What are you doing?" Hayley asked him. Klaus continued to stare at her for a moment. He couldn't realize that there were some things that he wanted to tell her. "Hayley…" Was this a dream? What id Ansel was never really here? What if he had imagined the whole thing? Hayley continued to stare at him with worry in her eyes. "What?" she asked him. Klaus looked away from her at that moment, not bearing to look into her eyes anymore and that hurt her. "Goodnight, Klaus!" she snapped before going back to sleep.

**Finn & Camille**

"You don't get out much, do you?" Camille asked him as he showed up at her bar the next day too. What did he really want from her? "You do work here. Would it be that bad for me to show my face once in a while?" "Yes, because I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself. I don't want you around me. I can't forgive you after everything that you've done." "You've forgiven many people, including my brother, Niklaus. Why can't you forgive me?" Camille couldn't answer that question. "Let me show you how to have a good time. Let me take you out." Finn was insisting.

"How long has it been since you asked out a girl? A century?" Cami asked him with a smirk. "Actually, I lost the woman I once loved recently. It hasn't been much longer than two years ago." Cami looked at him for one moment in shock. He had a girlfriend, so recently, and he must have lost her. "What happened to her? Did she leave you?" she asked. It was the best possibility. He wasn't much of a people person and she couldn't have been able to stomach that. "No. I lost her…she died, right before my eyes." Camille put down what she was doing and was looking at him sympathetically. "I had no idea. I'm sorry." She whispered. Finn smiled and nodded. "It was some supernatural business that killed her."

"What was her name?" "Sage. She was a redhead and a feisty one. Frankly, she was the only woman in my life who has ever understood what troubles I always seem to have in my family." "You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to go back to your home once in a while. I am sure that your brothers and Rebekah miss you. They can give you a chance if you give them one." Finn smiled and shook his head. "Maybe, but not tonight. I have something planned for tonight." He said and pulled out two tickets. "The opera?" Cami asked, with a smile on her face. Finn nodded and showed it to her. "I am going with someone. It's a Christmas Special." "Really? With who?" "With you."

Camille was no longer breathing as she looked over at him. He was being serious about this. "But Christmas is three days away." "I know. I just want to offer you a Christmas bonus now. I think that with everything going on, you really deserve it." She was contemplating the idea. She did love to go to the opera, just as much as he did. But she wasn't sure that she could trust him anymore. "We can go as Vincent and Cami, if you would like." Finn said with a smile. Camille shook her head. "You can't go back to being Vincent. It's Christmas almost. Around the holidays, it's important to be who you truly are. No pretending. This is what my uncle always used to tell me." "I'm sorry you lost him." Finn said at once. "Thank you." Cami responded as she played with the tickets in her hands.

Finn stood up from the counter, pushing away his last drink and he was putting on his coat. "Well, then, why don't we do take your late uncle's advice and go as we are. No lies and no secrets. Just us. What do you say?" "You want me to get out of this place, don't you?" Cami started laughing and Finn nodded. "I think that if you continue working here, you're going to go mad. Come with me…and let me feel like I once felt." "How did you once feel?" Cami asked him. "I felt…like I was alive. I was in fact alive. Pretty problematic, I know, but…I was human and I have come to realize, that humans are the purest creatures out of us all." Cami smiled at him as he said that.

The opera was anything but a blur. Camille was able to concentrate on everything that was going on up there on that stage. Sometimes, she wished that she could be in the Nutcracker tale or any other Christmas story, because she loved it. The singers were amazing and they were making her feel anything but hopeless for a wonderful Christmas. Finn was happy that she was having a good time with him. Looking over at her from times to time, he noticed her head sliding onto his shoulder, resting there as if she were at peace with herself, and there was the possibility that she had forgiven him. "You should be with your family." Cami whispered in his ear once the show was almost over.

**Marcel & Rebekah**

Rebekah was going to have a vampire heart attack any minute this night. She was walking around the fireplace, alone in the house as Klaus, Hayley and Hope had already gone to sleep. Kol was out with Charlene again and he couldn't care less if the family had no Christmas tree to put up. As she went around town that day, Rebekah discovered that all the good Christmas trees had been bought last week. "I knew that I am so late. I should have worked before and if I had a little help…" She threw a chair to the wall and picked up her phone, deciding to call Elijah and give him a piece of her mind.

"Where the hell are you and why haven't you been home for days? I know that you have been seeing Gia but that is no excuse when it comes to our family, Elijah! You know that!" Rebekah screamed into the phone, not caring if people woke up._ "Rebekah, please try to remain calm. I am having a problem that I will need to take care of. I will be home on Christmas Eve, I can promise you that." _Elijah said, but that wasn't nearly good enough for Rebekah who said in a whisper this time, "I have been working my bloody ass off for this Christmas and I think I deserve a little appreciation but I have been having none of it. Not from my family and not from Marcel either." Elijah chuckled but Rebekah screeched, "It's not funny, Elijah!" _"Please, sister, with this rush you are never going to get into the holiday spirit. You need to keep calm and take a small break. I will see you as soon as I get home." _With that, he hung up.

Rousseau's was open and Rebekah could clearly see Finn at the bar, trying to talk Camille into coming with him to the opera. She wanted to go over to him and slap him for not trying to be a part of their family. He couldn't imagine how heartbreaking it all was for her to have to live through this. Ignoring Finn and Cami, Rebekah went to the back of the bar where she knew that she was going to find him. There he was, drinking up a storm, with his vampire buddies, singing jingles…and with plenty of half-naked strippers around him. Rebekah's mouth dropped as she went over there and grabbed a blonde girl that was trying to get on top of him, and slamming her to the ground.

Marcel immediately stood up to help the girl and he looked over at Rebekah, angrily. "So, this is what you do when I am working up a storm around the house." Rebekah whispered, trying to hide the tears that were already falling on her cheeks. She went out of the bar and into the cold snow. "Rebekah!" Marcel called after her and went over to her, grabbing a hold of her arm. Rebekah showed her fangs and bit into him so that he would let her go but despite the pain, he refused to back down. "What were you doing here?" he asked her in a whisper. "What have you been doing here? Have you lost your mind? You were supposed to be with me! What kind of a sick jerk are you, Marcellus?" Rebekah screeched.

"Nothing happen over there. You are being possessive and this work has got you out of your mind, Rebekah. Please look at me, I am trying to help you but I think that this Christmas that you are planning is causing a lot more trouble for us than it's worth." "It is worth, Marcellus! It is worth and after what you did in there, I am starting to doubt that what we have is worth continuing." "What are you talking about?" Rebekah crossed her hands over her chest. "You know what I am talking about. Consider our relationship over and don't let the door kick you on your way out. And you have been disinvited from the Mikaelson family Christmas Eve feast. Have a Merry Christmas!" Rebekah told him, turning around and leaving.

**A/N: I know this chapter was more Klayley than Finn x Cami or Marcel x Rebekah, because it is mainly a Klayley story, but I do have time to write for the other couples soon. I hope you like Ansel as the ghost who is to help Klaus this Christmas. The next chapter will have Klaus visiting the Christmas Present along with the couples Gilijah and Kolvina. **

**Thank you for reading and please leave me a review. **


	8. December 23rd

**After having witnessed his past again, Klaus is left in thoughts about whether what he had experienced the other night was real or not. He finally gets his answer when Ansel comes back for him, as he had promised. Will Klaus tell anyone about what he is experiencing or will he keep it to himself? **

**Elijah finds a devastated Marcel, and speaks to him about the problems he has been having with Gia and what he should do to help her. With only two days left until Christmas, Gia decides to go to the cemetery and place flowers, wanting to reach her late husband. As Davina is done with Kol, he decides that he wants to win her back for Christmas.**

**December 23****rd**

**Klaus & Hayley **

The evening showed no signs of joy. Klaus had been looking all over the compound for Elijah, Rebekah and or Marcel. But there was no one that he was able to run into besides Hayley. She was looking at him with such a profound expression on her face, as if she was expecting him to say something to her. After what had happened to him the previous night, Klaus had tried hard to put Hayley out of his mind and just focus on his daughter, hoping that it would soon calm the spirits. Soon, he knew that he would have to face his present, as Ansel put it and it terrified him of what he would show him. Klaus rubbed his face, wondering if this was going to be real, or just another dream.

"Klaus!" Hayley exclaimed and he turned around to look at her. "What is it, love?" "I asked you about Hope. She hasn't been feeling well lately. I think she has some sort of fever." Klaus immediately made a move to reach the nursery and see how his daughter was feeling. He touched her forehead and sighed. "Have you called Davina?" he asked Hayley. "Yes, and she is on her way." "This better not be a Christmas joke coming from you, sweetheart. You don't want your father to start worrying." Klaus whispered and gently touched his small child again, with care and love, which made Hayley smile. She went over and touched his shoulder. He stiffened at her touch and nearly pulled away, making Hayley's smile fade.

"Are you upset with me?" she asked him. Klaus turned towards her and whispered, "What have I done to make you hate me so much, love? Is it really a bad thing that I am not good with relationships? I do not have the experience you ask for. It is just me. I can't…you ask for too much, little wolf!" he finally snapped at her. "All I am asking is that you stop being so superficial when it comes to Christmas because you know how much it means to Hope and how much it means to Rebekah to have us all under the holiday spirit. Try to cheer up and…" "Do it perfectly?" Klaus asked her and she raised her eyebrow at him. "That is not what you need to do." "It is certainly Rebekah's idea of having fun. Stress and anxiety. No wonder Marcel does not wish to be in a relationship with her any longer. You are no different from my sister." "How can you say that? I have been trying to help you all this time and all you ever did was pushing me away!" Hayley insisted, when Klaus suddenly pined her against the wall.

"How about what happened between us that night? Who rejected that? Who pushed that away? I don't remember it being me, love." Klaus whispered close to her and Hayley could barely catch her breath. "That night was a mistake that I will always regret making." She whispered to him, sending shocks all throughout his body. "Then, let it never happen again." Was the final thing he whispered before he let her go and stormed out of his nursery just as Hope started crying. Hayley bit her lip as she picked up Hope in her arms. Klaus did not come back to check on his daughter, which made Hayley believe that this was all her fault and her daughter was suffering for her mistakes. Why did they have to hurt one another so much? Why did they always end up arguing and saying the wrong things? Hayley knew how many wrong things she has said to him and she regretted it deeply. That night with him was one of the best nights in her life and she wanted to make it last, because she knew how she felt for him. But she was unsure if he truly felt something for her, or just using her for sexual needs "Everything is going to be okay." Hayley whispered and calmed hope down, trying to figure out a way to reduce her fever. Davina would be there soon and hopefully, she would know a remedy.

Klaus could feel her getting in bed alongside him that night and again felt the need to say something, but he didn't know what he should say. She was still upset and he could feel that she was still crying, silently alongside him. He couldn't take this any longer. He wanted to sleep and pretend like nothing like this had ever really happened. But soon enough, he felt someone shaking him and he opened his eyes, groggily, looking up. Ansel was standing there, in the same suit and the same spiritual figure, waiting for him. "It is time to get up." Ansel told him and Klaus growled, standing up and looking at him closely. "I must be out of my mind to believe or produce in my head such nonsense." "It's no nonsense, Niklaus. I am here, just like I told you I would be, ready to present to you the present." "What present? It's nighttime and we are all asleep in this family." "That is your impression." Klaus looked back to the bed and saw Hayley sleeping there. "You can't show me anything of Hayley. She is asleep in the present." Ansel nodded and whispered, "Tonight will not include Hayley, but other people in your family."

In a matter of seconds, they had disappeared to another room in the house. Klaus watched closely as Rebekah was weeping in front of the fireplace. "I thought that she had gone to sleep." He whispered to Ansel, who shook his head. "No. I know you've heard about her break up with Marcel." Klaus rolled his eyes. "There is no point in weeping about it. This was her own doing. It had nothing to do with Marcel. She was not being sensitive and reasonable about this bloody Christmas. She ended the relationship with him herself." Ansel shook his head. "Is that really what you believe is going on? Why do you think that she ended things with him?" Klaus shrugged but at that moment, the door opened and closed. Marcel was now walking in the house. "What is he doing here so late?" Klaus asked and Ansel put a finger to his lips. "Just watch for a second." Rebekah looked away from the man she loved and wiped away her tears. She was so very angry at him for what he did to them.

"I don't recall calling you here, Marcellus. You need to leave!" Rebekah snapped at him. Marcel raised his hands and said, "Hey, you may not like me right now but I am still family and Klaus said that I am welcome." "Welcome? After what you did? You are lucky that I haven't told Nik about it or Elijah." "What would they have done? I did nothing wrong, Rebekah. I know that you are upset about what happened with that striper but it was nothing serious. You are exaggerating." "Am I? I saw the way your hands were wrapped around her. I am not stupid!" she snapped at him. Marcel sighed and came over to her, more closer. "What do you want me to do? What do you want me to say to make all this go away?" "Nothing is going to make me forget what you did but you could start by not acting like my brother."

"What are you talking about?" Marcel asked, once again exasperated with her attitude. "You know very well what I am talking about. You and Nik have both betrayed me. You talk to me like I am your most favorite person in the world and when push comes to shove; you don't do anything to help me! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I have been so busy thinking about other things that I have forgotten to buy the best tree in town. Now, I found out that all the trees have been sold out and it's all your fault and Nik's!" "What have we done? Have we lost all the trees? Why are you bringing Klaus in the conversation?" "Because you are the spitting image of him and our relationship is the spitting image of his relationship with Hayley. That poor girl…you can't even imagine the things that she is telling me."

Marcel tapped his feet to the ground. "Stop raising your voice like that. You can very easily wake up Hope, or even worse, your brother." "That is another thing. Where are my other brothers? Where are Elijah and Kol when they should be here with me? Kol is off having meaningless one night stands and drinks while Elijah thinks that his relationship with Gia is suddenly more important than his relationship with his own sister. I really needed him here. I needed you to be with me when I wanted help doing something special for Christmas this year and all you did was treat me like some meaningless one nights stand too!" Marcel frowned. "You are no longer making any sense. Have you looked in the mirror lately? I think you should. Maybe you will realize that you are the reason why our relationship ended!" With that, Marcel was out of that house before Rebekah could say anything else.

Klaus smirked as he looked over at Ansel, who had a saddened expression on his face. "Everything that Marcel said right now is the absolute truth. She just doesn't know when to let it go." He said with a chuckle as he looked away but Ansel pulled him back. "Do you remember what Rebekah said a couple of minutes ago?" he asked him. "Is my mission to memorize everything that she says?" "Your mission is to realize that what Rebekah said is true. The relationship between Rebekah and Marcel reflects your relationship with Hayley." "That is preposterous!" "Is that so? You have just witnessed a fight between your sister and your protégé. How is this fight any different from what you and Hayley shared in the last couple of days? You made her cry, you made her feel unwanted, you made her feel used…" Klaus raised his hand to make him stop talking and looked over at him, angrily. "I have done everything I could to help her, but she turned me down. You don't dare put this on me!" Ansel sighed and whispered, "I think that you should see and hear this." He pointed over at Rebekah, who sat down by the fireplace again.

"What is she doing?" Klaus asked as Rebekah pulled out a recorder from her pocket. "Just watch and listen carefully to what she is about to play." Ansel responded as Rebekah played the recording._ "I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I…I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!"_ Rebekah ended the recording and whispered, "Nik, you bastard." Before getting up and going upstairs.

Klaus was standing there confused, after what he had heard. Hayley's heartbreaking voice could have been heard from the recording. Rebekah had done this on purpose, hoping she would get the chance to show the recording to him and make him feel like the guilty one. Klaus thought about Hayley's words one more time before whispering, "I would like to go back. I can no longer stand any of this." "Do you think that what I have shown you right now from the present is enough for you to realize how wrong you have been all this time?" Ansel whispered to him. Klaus refused to answer as he tried to move but he couldn't. "Ansel let me go!" he ordered him. "I always wonder why you call me by my first name and you don't call me Father. You do call Mikael, Father." "I call him father because he is who he is. He did raise me. You didn't. I don't care how bad of a father he was to me. He was my father still. You abandoned me…Ansel." Klaus replied harshly.

Letting him go, Ansel and Klaus returned to the bedroom. "I was hoping to show you more of your present, the present that you can't see or hear, but I think that the recording Rebekah played is the one thing that made me realize that this trip can be cut short so you can go back to sleep, son." Ansel told him. Klaus smirked and whispered, "Let me guess. You are planning on stopping by tomorrow on Christmas Eve to show me my future, won't you?" Ansel smiled and said, "Yes, I will, as promised. I think tomorrow is going to be the most important day of them all. Tomorrow, you might realize what you have and what you're wasting. Good night, Niklaus." Ansel whispered and disappeared. The colors in the room had reappeared and Klaus had finally gotten into bed, sighing. The words were still ringing in his mind. How was it possible that he didn't know?

_"I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I...I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!"_ Was she really in love with him? She really cared that much about how he felt towards her and Hope? He suddenly felt her shift on the bed again and she turned on the light. She jumped a little when she caught him staring at her. "You're awake." Hayley whispered and looked away.

Klaus stood up on the bed and scooted closer to her. "What is wrong with you? Why are you up?" he asked her. She bit her lip and continued to avoid his gaze. "It's none of your concern, Klaus. I just want to go to the bathroom." She whispered, finally standing up and going in there, slamming the door shut. Klaus rolled his eyes at her attitude when he really was concerned about her, and finally rolled back into the bed. He could barely go to sleep. Hayley had been in that bathroom for a long time and she was not coming out. Just when he was on the verge of falling asleep, he could hear her gentle weeping.

**Elijah & Gia**

How could it be possible that the snow looked so calm and peaceful the moment she got there? Gia took a deep breath as she stopped the car right outside the cemetery. She felt something in her heart. She felt a heavy weight that she knew would take more than another love to get it off. She was here to see her husband. It was so close to Christmas. She felt guilty, after all those training sessions she shared with Elijah, the way she kissed him and they almost slept together. It had only been a year since she lost Mark. Gia got out of the car and held the flowers in her hands. She had no idea what she was doing. The flowers were fake, out of a special material. Of course she wanted real and pure white roses but they should fade away in seconds with the cold winter snow. The tombstone was waiting for her. Mark was waiting for her. Gia abandoned her car and walked through the snow towards the place where she knew held the spirit of her long lost lover. What would he think of her now? She was, after all, a vampire.

Elijah walked inside Rousseau's, finding the one person he wanted to talk to. Marcel was filling up on alcohol, not being able to find anything else useful that he could do. The Original Vampire took a seat next to him and coughed, making sure that Marcel offered him the attention he wanted. "What is going on now? Had another fight with Klaus, Rebekah, and the rest of your family? It's not every day that you are looking forward to speaking to me." Marcel mumbled. Elijah smiled and shook his head. "We have spoken to one another two days ago." "Before you and Gia got hot and heavy? Don't think that I can't figure out what is going on between you two." "I am here to talk about Gia and what her problems are." Elijah whispered. Marcel looked over at him, confused. "I was hoping you could help me."

"Why would I help you? There is nothing that I know about this girl and if you haven't noticed, I have been having problems of my own." Marcel barked up and Elijah took a swig of wine. "It is funny how our family used to be so tied together around the holidays. Rebekah was happily making arrangements, Kol was letting aside his womanizing problems in order to be with us, Finn was…Finn, but still a part of the family and Niklaus…he did everything in his power to make sure that Christmas would be a success. Now, as I see it, Rebekah is stresses, she lost you, you lost her, I am away from home, Finn is nowhere to be found, Niklaus and Hayley have the most estranged relationship, which can affect their child and you…you're in bars instead of being with Rebekah." "Let go of the past. What do you want to know about Gia?" Marcel finally asked, not wanting to hear anymore of Elijah's thoughts about their family.

"What problems does she confront?" Elijah whispered, making Marcel frown and shake his head. "I don't know much that I can tell you. Gia and I have been spending a lot of time together, she has confided in me plenty of times before. Most of things that she has told me about her past have to do about her life with her husband." Elijah frowned, whispering, "Her husband?" "Mark. He died about a year ago. After that, Gia has been feeling completely lost. That is one of the reasons why she believed that her life had no meaning. That is why she came to me that day, wanting to become a vampire." "What else do you know?" Elijah asked, taking another drink. "That is about it. She was very attached to her husband and she lost him. That means a lot to a woman. She lost the man she loved, which might have led to her being so…not full of life." Marcel told him. "And I am guessing that she hasn't been able to let go." Elijah whispered and looked down as he could remember the night that he could have had with Gia, had she not stopped their passionate moment.

_Gia took a moment of control to speed them the other way. She got on top of him and kissed him once more, leaving him to run his hands up her back and unclip her bra, throwing it onto the ground. She left a couple of kisses down his chest as Elijah flipped them once more, kissing one of her breasts and making her moan in pleasure at his gentle and yet sexy touch. She was blissful for one moment and she thought about all the things that she could experience with him. The desire she felt for him is something that she had never felt before. He managed to make her forget about all of her problems and he was forcing her to think about him and only him. Elijah gently massages her breasts as he closed his lips over hers once more and placed gentle kisses. She started to feel odd and a feeling of guilt washed over her as she remembered how her husband loved her and touched her this way. She couldn't do this._

_Before Elijah could get ready to enter her, Gia slowly pushed against his chest, making him stand on the bed and get off of her, shocked. "Have I upset you?" Elijah asked slowly, leaning over to kiss her again but Gia stopped him. "No, it's not that. It's just…Elijah, I really can't do this. I can't find myself being able to just sleep with you now…it's too much for one day." She was trying to find a good excuse but she couldn't. Now, he knew that something was bothering her and he would not stop until he found out. He watched her put on her bra and underwear as well as the rest of her clothes and walk out. He laid his head against the pillow and thought about how he was going to get her to open up to him. _

Elijah got up from the table, without finishing his drink. He suddenly realized where she could be at this moment, since she was not around in town, in the places where he had been searching for her for plenty of hours now. "Where are you going?" Marcel asked him. "I need to find her and I need to speak to her about something." Marcel shook his head and whispered, "I sure hope that you're not going to do anything stupid you will later regret." "And what is that supposed to mean?" Elijah asked him. "It means that you should give her some space. She won't come running to you if you continue to get into her business like that. Leave it alone, Elijah." He would not listen to Marcel, and he left at once.

Gia was still in the snow, looking at the flowers that she had placed on the tombstone. She covered herself with her jacket, even though as a vampire, she could not feel the cold rushing through her. "It's almost Christmas, Mark." She whispered, looking up in the sky. "I know that you might be able to hear me so I hope that you will understand what I am about to tell you. I loved you and I will always love you. You will always have a place inside of my heart. You have been so loving and so good to me. But all of this, is now in the past for me. You don't hold my heart anymore. I have been holding onto you for a while and only today, I realize that maybe it's time I let you go. I must start thinking about myself now. I am no longer human. I am a vampire, with a whole future of immortality ahead of her, a vampire who can't have a family of her own. I need to figure out what to do with my life. Just like I chose to let go of my human life, I must let you go." There were footsteps that she was hearing, but Gia did not want to turn around.

He could see her sitting there, by the tombstone where her husband had been buried. Elijah knew that she could feel him now. Her senses had gotten deeper than he could imagine. He stayed by her car and decided to follow Marcel's advice. No matter how much he wanted to go to her and hug her, be there for her, he knew that he had to give her some space to let it all out. He had heard her wishes and he couldn't help but smile when he heard her say that it was time to let go of Mark. She placed a kiss on her palm and then gently placed the palm on the cold and wet stone, whispering, "Goodbye, Mark. And Merry Christmas." Gia stood up and walked back to the car, seeing him there, in a coat, with his hands in his pockets. "What are you doing here?" Gia asked him once she reached her car.

"I had a feeling that you would be here." Elijah whispered. "Who told you about Mark?" Gia demanded to know. "It was Marcel. And you don't have to be upset with him for telling me. I made him. I had to know the truth." "The truth about what?" "About your sadness. After what happened between us two days ago…" Gia shook her head but Elijah touched her shoulder, "Please let me finish. After what we shared, you just disappeared. I can understand now why. This is too soon for you. But you could have told me the truth, without needing to hide. You know I could have helped you sooner." "But that is just the thing, Elijah. I know you. Marcel has told me how you like to fix things. You have been doing it for a while now. You did it with Hayley too. I don't need you to do it with me."

Gia wanted to get into her car but he wouldn't let her. "I am not trying to fix you." Elijah whispered. "Yes, you are. And I don't like that. I want to have a man beside me but not one that is going to feel sorry for me every minute of every day. Yes, I lost my husband and I am ready to move on now, but not with someone like you, Elijah." He gently pushed her against the car door and whispered, "I have been putting pieces of this puzzle together and I have come to believe that finding out Hayley and I slept together last Christmas has really upset you." "You think?" Gia asked him. Elijah looked away but that was not stopping her from talking. "You upset a lot of people and made Christmas a shitty event last year when you and Hayley did what you did…with a baby in the house, your own brother's baby! That is why Rebekah is working so hard and no one appreciates her. She wants to wipe away the dirt from last year so that you and Klaus will speak to one another again. I mean, that is why you are staying away from home, aren't you? Christmas reminds you of the shameful thing you did and you can't bear to face your brother now!" "Gia…" "No. Save it! I don't know why I am still here. Let go of me."

She pushed him away and got inside of her car. Elijah put a hand next to the window when she wanted to roll it up. "You have not given me a chance to explain my actions." "You don't have to. Klaus already done that for you and I am no longer surprised that he made you feel like a scoundrel when he made the announcement to the whole city last year. You can't just do what you did to family members. Hayley, maybe I can understand. Klaus was not paying attention to her and you were all she had when she was forced to get married to someone she didn't want to. But you should have known better the moment you decided to lay dibs on your brother's baby momma. I am surprised that someone hasn't said all this to you until now. You need to wake up, Elijah!" She rolled up the window but Elijah stopped her. "I have hurt you, I know…" "This is not about you hurting me, Elijah! This is about something disgraceful that you did to your brother. I can't stand the thought of that." She managed to roll up the window and Elijah finally let her leave the cemetery.

**Kol & Davina**

"Kooool!" He could hear Charlene yelling out from the bathroom. The young Mikaelson brother has decided to rent a hotel room that night for him and Charlene, seeing as they couldn't indulge in their sexual activities at home any longer. Charlene came over to him; her blonde hair flowing around her and the top of her breasts could be seen from her red robe. "Ready for a little Christmas bubbling?" she asked him with a smirk as she plopped down on the bed with a bottle of champagne for them to share. She blew him a kiss, but he pulled back from her. She chose to ignore that part.

"I also have a Santa Clause hat. Would you like to see it?" she whispered, seductively. Kol got up from the bed and replied, "Nah, not now." "What is wrong with you lately? You have been acting really weird. Before, you really loved hanging around with me. I thought we had a real thing going here. What's wrong with you?" she asked him, with a frown on her face. He had been trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He thought that being with Charlene again was going to determine him to start feeling like a real man again, but it was not helping at all. He felt like a part of his life was still missing, even though he was once again the fearless Original Vampire he wanted to be. Charlene groaned as she stood up on the bed. "Don't tell me that you're still thinking about that little runt."

At once she felt herself being pushed up against the wall and every breath of life leaving her. "You do not dare to talk to her like that, do you understand me?" Kol growled at her and then let go of her, as she tumbled to the floor. Charlene stood up and looked at him, angrily, "How dare you aggress me like that?!" she exclaimed but Kol was already picking up his things, ready to leave the hotel room. "So what? You are dumping me now? How very considerate of you to do that with Christmas just around the corner. You know what? Go to her! And when she rejects you, you don't come crawling back to me begging for what I have to offer." Kol rolled his eyes and left the room and the hotel in the blink of an eye, looking for his phone.

Bourbon Street was quiet when he finally decided to make the call…but it was pointless, because there she was standing, right in front of him. Davina was surprised to see him, but she was not at all thrilled. Trying to move past him didn't work because he immediately got a hold of her arm, stopping her from moving. "What are you trying to do?" Davina asked him once she finally decided that she was going to stay and listen to his crap. "I am trying to tell you that I want you back, darling and I am not the type to actually beg on his knees for a woman to forgive him." Kol responded. There was a grin on his face, but Davina was not buying it. "Thanks for telling me, but I have somewhere to be right now." She moved past him but Kol grabbed a hold of her hand. "Where?" he asked. "Cami and Finn invited me for hot cocoa so we can talk and bond, something that you have lost sight of since you've been gone stripping and sleeping with Charlene."

"I am not with Charlene. I broke up with her." "Correction. You left her, since you compelled her to be with you in the first place." Kol grinned. "Now that is not actually true. She was a willing participant. Is it that hard for you to believe that I can be wanted by women?" "Of course not. My mistake." Davina replied and tried to move again but he stepped in front of her. "Wait! Finn? You're going to see Finn?" "Yeah. When was the last time you saw him or any other member of your family in fact?" Kol shook his head. "This is not about my family, alright? Why would you give a damn anyway? As I see it, this is about you and I so come on now, sweetheart, why don't you let me take you back?" "It is not that simple, Kol. Besides, even if you do want me back, I am not sure that I want you." Davina snapped at him.

"You don't really mean that." "Now you're telling me what I do mean and what I don't? You get out of my life, Kol. This Christmas, I want to be at peace and you are not the definition of peace." Kol was about to say something but he saw someone in the distance, his former body. It was the real Kaleb. "Davina, are you coming?" he asked her. "Coming, Kaleb!" Davina told him and left Kol, standing there bewildered.

**A/N: Next chapter will have a Christmas Eve feats with all the couples of the story and Klaus will see the future that Ansel is preparing to show him. Thank you for reading and please review!**


	9. December 24th

**It is that time of the year again, when the whole family gathers at a Christmas Eve feast. A family usually says its prayers and eats their food, but that is not the case with the Mikaelsons. Everyone has things to worry about this night and what Christmas Day is going to bring them.**

**Rebekah no longer cares about doing anything more for Christmas, making everyone feel disappointed that they don't have a tree. Klaus is fearful of what Christmas Eve is going to bring to him. What kind of future will Ansel show him? Hayley is going to be hard to convince to join the feast, as Finn comes face to face with his family, supported by Camille. Gia decides to come to the feast, making Elijah uncomfortable as Kol is having a hard time believing that Davina is seeing the real Kaleb.**

**December 24****th**

The day before came by like a blur. When Klaus woke up the next morning, he could barely believe that he had survived the night. But this was going to be far different than before. This day was going to be different than yesterday. He sighed and turned around to see her, but she was not in bed. Startled, he stood up, just as he heard the door open and Hayley was now coming out of the bathroom. She had taken the time to take a shower and comb her hair. Seeing her, showered, with a wonderful scent and just a white towel covering up her exquisite body, was making him feel something he has not felt in a couple of days. "Good morning." She whispered politely to him. "Good morning." He responded.

Her voice was different and she sounded almost disappointed. He got out of bed and went into the bathroom, slamming the door shut after him. Hayley rolled her eyes of the way he was starting to mimic her. How much of a married couple were they starting to look like? She was trying hard not to think about the word, "married". She would never get that happily ever after that she wanted. Finishing brushing her hair, she got dressed for the day. Rebekah had just sent her a text. _I am going out. I need some fresh air from this hellhole. _Hayley smiled and shook her head sadly, feeling sorry for her. _What about the Christmas Eve feast? We are still having that, aren't we?_ Rebekah replied at once. _Yeah, we will, but I already cooked all the food. The people who come tonight will have to please themselves. I am not even sure that I will be there._ Hayley gasped when she read that and wrote back. _Don't say that. You have to be there. You are planning on leaving me alone with Klaus. Please spare me the torture! _A while came before she responded. _Fine. I have to go now. Bye. Have a nice day!_

Klaus had the water running for a while before he stepped into the shower. He could not hear her doing anything, with his hybrid hearing, but she certainly hadn't left the room because he would have heard that too. What would happen tonight? What about what Ansel told him? Will he be able to get through Christmas? Facing Hayley now would be more than difficult, after hearing her confession. She told Rebekah that she is in love with him. How could she be? This seemed all too impossible. Klaus let the warm water seep through his hair and thought about her choice of words. She poured her heart out.

_"I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I...I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!"_ He was thinking that she still had Elijah on her mind, after all this time. The thought of the holidays reminded him of the indiscretion between his brother and Hayley from last year and his eyes closed tightly, trying to forget completely. He could finally hear her walk around the room for a while. She was searching for something in the closet, he was sure of that. He closed the water and walked out of the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around him. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" he asked her, when he heard all the noise.

She was not looking at him. "Hayley, answer me!" "I am not doing anything! I was simply looking for a Christmas sweater I bought for myself. It's something that will sure as hell help me feel a lot better than I am feeling now. What a joyful Christmas Eve this is going to be!" she yelled out at him, slamming the closet door shut and leaving the room. Klaus stood there, nearly shaking his head and then finally, he decided that he would return to his shower. This was going to be a pathetic day, but tonight was going to be the biggest one of the year.

Rebekah had texted Hayley, telling her that she needed some time for herself for a while. She knew that Hayley knew her real troubles. Marcel. She could no longer stand to be so close to him and after he had come to speak to her the other night, she had been feeling more vulnerable. Walking down Bourbon Street, Rebekah caught sight of two people, who seemed more and more like a couple now. Finn and Cami were walking, talking and laughing together. "That little bastard." Rebekah mumbled under her breath and walked up to the two of them. "So, this is how it is going to be now, Finn? You're just going to turn your back on your family?" she asked him. Finn was shocked for a moment and wanted to say something but Cami spoke up. "Rebekah, he has been having a hard time." "Are you his spokesperson?"

She didn't always snap at Cami like that but right now, it was something that concerned one of her brothers. "Rebekah, I thought that I was not wanted in this family after what I've put you through." "It has been a year, Finn. I am sure that everyone has wanted to see you so we can all just make amends for the sake of our niece." Finn nodded and whispered, "How is she?" "As if you care!" "Like you said, she is my niece so I care." Rebekah bit her lip and whispered, "Hope is just fine, when she is away from the people who have tried to hurt her." She stated matter-of-factly. "I would never think about harming her. She is my blood. Remember that, Rebekah." Finn told her, calmly. Rebekah stood there for a moment before nodding. "So, you are going to prove to your family that you have changed? Start by coming to the Christmas Eve feast I have arranged for tonight." Cami smiled and nodded. "He will be there and so will I." "Great! Because I am sure it will turn out to be a splendid evening!" Rebekah exclaimed with a roll of her eyes before leaving them.

Finn gently shook his head. "I am sorry you had to witness that, Camille. She can be so stubborn sometimes, but after what she has been through, I can understand her this time." Cami took his hand and they started walking again. "She has been pretty stressed lately. No one has done much to help her with the Christmas preparations, the Christmas trees are all out of stock and she and Marcel broke up again." Finn rolled his eyes. "These two never catch a break, do they?" "No, they don't. They are the forbidden lovers after all." Camille suddenly groaned when she saw who was coming up their way. "What's wrong?" Finn asked her. "Davina. She and her new date, Kaleb." Finn chuckled. "It would seem that she can't really move on from the charming Kaleb face to the Kol one." "No. I know what she is planning. She is using Kaleb to make Kol jealous and that is driving me insane." Camille explained.

Gia had slept badly that night after the discussion she had with Elijah. She felt really bad about it for some reason. Her intention was not to make him feel bad, but she had to tell him what everyone thought of him sleeping with his brother's baby momma and who happens to be his brother's current love interest. It was shameful and she was jealous of that, she was not ashamed to admit it to herself. But she was never going to admit that in front of Elijah. Yesterday, she had made a pact with herself that she was going to forget all about her dead husband, Mark, but she was not going to move on to another man that quickly. It took time. And only now, on this day, on Christmas Eve, did she realize that she had made a huge mistake by making out with Elijah that day during training.

There was a knock on the young vampire's door and she immediately went over there to see who it was. She was hoping on some miracle that she would find an old relative at her door, someone who would recognize her as part of the family and take her in again. Someone who would care to spend Christmas with her. But at the door, stood the one and only handsome man, Elijah. She couldn't believe that she couldn't shake him out of her life. "What are you doing here?" she asked him at once. "I came here to apologize." "Please, don't. You don't have to apologize for anything." "Not even for the mistake I made a year ago?" "You should be apologizing to your brother, not to me about sleeping with the love of his life." Gia told him and finally let him enter. "There was nothing going on between Niklaus and Hayley at that time." "Still, you're afraid to face your brother about it. Why would you be? It's like you said. There was nothing going on between them a year ago so why be afraid to face him?"

"Because, he has been protective of Hayley lately and I can see the way he looks at her. I know how much anger he holds for me for what I have done. I cannot bear the thought…" Elijah stopped talking as Gia cut him off. "I say that it's Christmas and he should forgive you." "There is nothing to forgive. Only to talk." "Then talk and get out!" Gia snapped, losing her patience with him. Elijah looked at her more before whispering, "I would like for you to attend Christmas Eve with me and help me talk to my brother about the situation, something I have felt guilty about for a year now." "I am not sure that I want to go anywhere. I just want to be alone…and why would I help you anyway?" she asked him. "Please. I need your help, Gia." Elijah whispered. She stood there, thinking long and hard. "And no one should be alone on Christmas. You come with me so you can have a good time." Elijah explained his wishes more to her, finally making Gia cave in and accept going with him.

…

Festive, indeed and Rebekah had settled with nothing less that night. The Mikaelson Christmas Eve party had started pretty early and the whole family was attending. Hayley was asked by Rebekah to act the hostess until she came home, if she would come home. "Where is she, love?" Klaus whispered in her ear when she was arranging the plates on the table. "I don't know. But with the way things are going, I don't think that she is going to come at all. This is the shittiest Christmas I have ever had. I can only imagine what she must be feeling after she has been ignored for days, unappreciated and dumped by the man she loves." Klaus chuckled. "She has not been dumped. She is the one who decided to end the relationship, but of course you would put it your way to make her feel better, little wolf." He paid no attention to what she said that this was the worst Christmas of her life. Hayley rolled her eyes and tried to put it out of her mind so she could greet the guests, but she couldn't. She felt a pinch in her heart when he said that. "Marcel has been disinvited so he is no longer welcome!" Hayley finally told him and placed the huge turkey that Rebekah cooked, on the table. Klaus arranged his tie in front of the mirror in the kitchen and frowned. "And who may I ask, disinvited him?" "Who do you think?"

Klaus smirked and shook his head. "Seeing as how Rebekah is not playing the hostess tonight, I have the liberty of inviting whoever I want in my house." Hayley smiled for a moment but then chose to fade it as she whispered, "You are forgetting that Rebekah left me in charge, which means that I am the hostess, which means that I get to invite whoever I want and to keep out whoever I please." She moved away from him and looked in the mirror, hoping that she was going to be shown a more splendid image of herself. She looked pretty down with the weather and she was feeling that way too. Hope was in her crib and smiling at both of her parents when they entered the nursery.

Hayley picked her up in her arms and started rocking her gently and making her squeal and giggle. "You love that, don't you?" she asked Hope but the little baby was more distracted, looking at her father. Klaus smirked and came forward, taking Hope away from her. "It seems that she prefers to be with her father now, don't you, littlest wolf?" he asked her and kissed her forehead, making Hayley's heart flutter when he saw the image of a father loving his child, no matter how much of a jerk he was to her mother. The doorbell rung and Hayley had just finished adding up everything in the kitchen. "Maybe it's Rebekah and she changed her mind." Hayley whispered. She went to the door and looked disappointed when she saw Gia and Elijah standing there, looking exquisitely elegant.

She had not seen Elijah for a couple of days now and with the recent events with Klaus, Hayley was glad that she was seeing him again. "Hey, where have you been?" Hayley asked him, noticing the firm grip he had on Gia. "I have been taking care of a couple of problems but I trust that you and Niklaus have been doing well without me." Elijah said smiling but Klaus stepped to the door at that moment and wrapped his arm around Hayley's waist, pulling her closer to him. "You cannot even imagine how well it has been without you, brother." Hayley didn't want to be in the middle of a fight and gently pulled Gia away to the kitchen as Klaus and Elijah remained in the doorway, staring at one another. "I see that you have found a distraction for Hayley." Klaus whispered, smirking, but he was not in the mood to laugh.

Elijah frowned at his brother and pointed a finger at him. "Gia is here as my guest and she is not a distraction for anyone. She is a woman that I have deep feelings for." "I am sure you do, brother." "Niklaus, I don't think that now is the best time. I have been meaning to talk to you face to face about last year but…" Klaus pushed him out in the snow as he came too and shut the door behind them. "Let me get one thing clear to you, brother. When you set foot in that house, you are my guest, do you understand? You do not dare to talk to me like you're superior." "That is not what I am doing." "Then you will understand that I have no interest in hearing about your relationship with Hayley." "Niklaus, there is nothing going on between me and Hayley." "You may choose to believe that, but I don't. I know all about last year and what you dared to do with my child in the same house, under the same roof, as Rebekah and I were off, trying to save both of your lives. You decided to get hot and heavy behind my back." "We were emotional and she was about to get married to a man that she didn't love. I was under a lot of pressure as well with what Mother was doing to me. I was not thinking…" "The damn right you weren't." Elijah refused to say anything afterwards and Klaus stepped menacingly towards him, whispering, "Hayley is mine." "Niklaus…" The door opened at that moment and there stood Hayley.

"What is going on here?" she asked, confused by the way Klaus looked like he was ready to kill his brother. "I think that we are done here, Elijah." Klaus told him, with spite in his voice, as he turned around and headed back inside. Hayley could see from the distance that other people were approaching too. Kol, Kaleb, Davina, Cami and Finn were now coming and were waiting to get a taste of what this feast had to offer. Hayley put her hands on her hips and faced Elijah. "Are you going to tell me what happened or will I have to figure it out for myself?" "It's about what happened between us last year near Christmas." A blush appeared on Hayley's cheeks as she remembered. "Klaus is angry about that? Why?" she asked, surprised. Elijah rubbed his forehead and whispered, "I have no idea, Hayley."

The people who were invited came inside soon and neither one of them looked happy. Hayley could notice that she and Rebekah were not the only ones that were having the worst Christmas possible. Hope was the only sweetheart in the house who was keeping the family alive with her laughter and squeals which made everyone smile. Finn was feeling uncomfortable, receiving dirty looks from all of his brothers. Kol was chewing angrily as he watched Kaleb put a hand on Davina's leg at the table. Gia seemed to be lost in space as Elijah was receiving angry looks from Klaus from time to time. Cami was looking at Hayley nervously while she was eating, as if she was afraid that the whole table would explode eventually. The meal was quiet and neither Rebekah nor Marcel had attended that night.

There was nothing really to talk about. After they ate, they chose to depart quietly. Kol decided that he would stay but Finn would not even think about it, deciding to spend the night at Camille's place. Elijah was staying too, since it was his family's home and wanted Gia to stay with him for Christmas night but she refused and went home. As Davina and Kaleb left the house, they seemed to be distancing themselves more and more. "I am so sorry, Hayley." Cami whispered to her, before hugging her tightly. Hayley accepted the embrace and nodded. "Yeah, what the hell? We got this over with. Let's just hope and pray for a miracle tomorrow on Christmas morning that everything will be okay." Camille slightly smiled before leaving. The house nearly looked empty as Elijah and Kol have both locked themselves up in their rooms. Klaus came over to her side and brushed his finger against her shoulder.

Hayley turned around and snapped, "What do you want?" "Hope needs to be tucked in." Klaus responded just as firmly, as the two parents went to the nursery. Hope was still smiling and Hayley gently rocked her and fed her, telling her that Santa Clause was going to bring her plenty of presents. Klaus stood at the door and watched them both, with a saddened look on his face. When he and Hayley finally returned to their bedroom, they felt completely estranged. They didn't even say goodnight to each other, much less wish one another a Merry Christmas. It was Christmas, but not at all merry.

…

Ansel shook his awake at once, making it impossible for him to sleep even a wink. "This is your last night. I trust that you had a pleasant Christmas Eve." Ansel said to him with a smile as Klaus got out of bed. "Oh, you have to be kidding me!" He groaned. He looked back towards the sleeping Hayley and got a feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What is going on now? Where are we going?" Klaus asked him. "I told you. We are going to take a look at how your future looks like with you remaining the way you are." Ansel made Klaus link his arm with his and they were off, being dropped off on the streets of New Orleans. It was Christmas, Klaus knew that, but the streets looked very different. "What year is this?" Klaus suddenly asked as he looked around. "Around 2034, almost 2035." Ansel replied.

"We passed 20 years?" Klaus whispered. "Yes, we did." At once, Klaus could see someone familiar walking through the snow. Even after 20 years, she remained the beautiful hybrid girl he knew. She was and will always be his little wolf. She was dressed in a red mermaid dress with a black overcoat. "Hayley." Klaus murmured as he watched her look at her phone as she walked. "What is she doing? Where is she going?" Klaus asked Ansel. "Just watch." He told him. Hayley looked up from her phone and smiled as she saw someone from behind Klaus. The Original Hybrid turned around and his mouth dropped as he saw his brother, Elijah, standing behind him, dressed for winter, waiting for Hayley. "What is going on here?" Klaus asked. He watched as Hayley went over to Elijah and placed a kiss on his lips. Klaus shook his head and looked away. "I don't believe this!" he growled.

"Believe what you want, Niklaus but it's the way it is." "How is it possible that she is with Elijah after 20 years? What about me? Where will I be? Where is Gia?" Klaus asked him, anger flowing through him. Ansel sighed and whispered, "You pushed Hayley away for good. After you found out about that confession that she loves you, you humiliated her by turning her down in front of the whole family on New Year's Eve in 2014." "What? I couldn't have done that!" Klaus insisted. "But you did…to protect your pride. You did it in front of all your vampire friends. After that, Marcel lost all the respect he ever had for you. You lost him as a friend. Gia…let's just say that she is no longer in this world." "What do you mean? What happened?" "After you humiliated Hayley, she broke down and as usual, Elijah was there to help her. Gia had given her heart to another man, to Elijah himself, only to have it broken the minute Hayley and him slept together again. She was desperate for affection after the way you broke her. After she found out that Elijah slept with Hayley again, Gia could no longer mend her broken heart. She drove a stake through her heart one night and killed herself."

Klaus could not believe what he was hearing. "What are you telling me? It is my fault that Gia killed herself?" "She was depressed. She had already lost her husband, having to witness the man who helped heal her; sleep with another woman was too much for her. Of course, Hayley would have never slept with Elijah if you hadn't done what you did. Now, after so many years, your brother and Hayley are together again." Ansel said and Klaus looked away. "Take me away. I can't stand to see any more of this. Where is my daughter? Where is Hope? What happened to her?" "After you humiliated Hayley like that, she has been incapable to care for your daughter and Rebekah had to swoop in and take care of her. Eventually, Rebekah raised her for the past 20 years, taking Hayley's role in her life as her mother, having the child she always wanted." "I don't believe Hayley would agree to this. This isn't real. This isn't my future!" "It doesn't have to be. You have the power to make a difference, Niklaus and…" "Take me to see her. I need to see my daughter. Is she grown up?" "Yes. She stopped aging eventually, when she reached maturity, which is 18 years. She is as old as Rebekah now, and only 2 years younger than her mother. I don't mean to say anything because Hope is my granddaughter but even I, a supernatural, find that completely awkward." "I am in no mood for your judgment, Ansel! Just take me to see my daughter. I want to look at her, to see, what I have missed."

"Here she is." Ansel presented Klaus his daughter. She was an exquisite beauty who looked just like her mother, but she had Klaus' smile and everything wicked of him. "She grew up, but she rarely got to see you after what you did to Hayley. You started to care less and less about your family as each year and each Christmas passed. You remained…with the city." Klaus frowned and shook his head. "If there is one thing that I would never do is neglect my daughter." Klaus whispered. "Maybe not intentionally. You still love her, but you stopped visiting her often and you lost her trust, both you and Hayley. She has grown to live with her parents separated and being raised by her aunt, but it was never what she wanted." Klaus watched as Rebekah offered Hope a Christmas present. They were laughing, joking and having fun, but it was just them. "Where am I?" Klaus finally asked. Ansel shook his head with his eyes closed. "If you really want to see…" "Yes, I damn well want to see." "Alright, then. As you wish, Niklaus!"

The last place that they had stopped was right outside the governor's home. "What am I doing here? I live at the compound!" Klaus growled as he looked around the abandoned house. It was dark and you could barely tell that there was someone living in it. "You chose this life, Niklaus. After you abandoned your duties and lost followers in your anger and vindictive ways, you were replaced as King of New Orleans." "What are you talking about? Who replaced me?" "Your brother, Elijah. He restored the community and New Orleans lives in peace now." "And I just live here?" "All alone, yes." Klaus sucked in his breath and cursed out loud. "Niklaus, come on, please calm down." "How can you tell me to be calm? This is my future that you showed me. I never asked for this and I don't want this!" Ansel raised his eyebrow. "What do you want?" Klaus wanted to speak but no words were coming out of his mouth. Ansel continued to look at him and then he snapped his fingers.

They were back in 2014, back in the bedroom, with Klaus feeling sicker than ever. "It's not too late to change things, Niklaus. It's not late to let go of your pride and tell Hayley how you feel. The future that I have presented you is the one that you will have if you continue what you have been doing so far. I have tried being a good father, to give you a head's up. I hope it has helped." "What am I supposed to do?" "Do the right thing. You don't have to ask me because you know what you must do. Just let go of your pride and be with your family, or you are going to lose them...forever." Klaus shook his head and whispered, "You have to leave, Ansel." "I do have to leave because I did everything in my power. Now, it's up to you to decide how you want your life to turn out. Have a pleasant evening, son. And Merry Christmas!" Ansel told him, touching his shoulder, affectionately before leaving.

Hayley was sleeping peacefully on the bed when Klaus decided to lie down beside her again. Her back was turned to him and he was staring at the birthmark that was exposed on her shoulder. He touched it softly once more, praying that she wouldn't wake up. He closed his eyes and he could picture her again, what he saw in her, sadness after 20 years, in Elijah's arms. Her confession to Rebekah had overwhelmed him so much. _"I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I...I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!"_ He knew how he felt about her and he knew how much he wanted to make her his. Ansel's deep words rung in his head too. _"Do the right thing. You don't have to ask me because you know what you must do. Just let go of your pride and be with your family, or you are going to lose them...forever."_ He came closer to her and gently placed a kiss on her exposed shoulder. "I won't lose you…little wolf." He murmured, before falling asleep, holding her in his arms.

**A/N: The next chapter is going to be in Christmas Day and the last chapter of this Christmas Special fanfic. As you can imagine, there will be happy endings for all couples ;)**


	10. December 25th

**After having witnessed one of the most terrible nights for Klaus, as he saw the future, he realized what would happen if he continued this reckless behavior. Hayley and Hope became the most important people in his life, and he was going to lose both if he didn't do anything about it.**

**In this final chapter, everyone tries to make the best of what Christmas they have left on the 25****th****. Hope is happy about her presents, as Kol tries to make Davina come back to him. Cami and Finn officially declare themselves as a couple, while Elijah tries to convince Gia to spend Christmas with him. Hayley and Rebekah have a heartfelt discussion as Klaus is nowhere to be found.**

**December 25****th**

Hayley slowly opened her eyes when she heard movement from downstairs. Memories were slowly coming back to her as she realized that it was Christmas Day at last. She softly smiled as she remembered the presents that she had taken the liberty to buy everyone in the family, especially her spoiled and precious daughter. Her smile dropped as she slowly turned around and noticed that Klaus' side of the bed was empty. He had already left, God knows where. The door creaked open and Hayley really hoped it would be him. "Merry Christmas!" Rebekah exclaimed as she entered.

The hybrid girl, disappointed, stood up on her bed as she saw that Rebekah was holding Hope in her hands. And she was also holding a little red box. "This is your present! Have a look!" Rebekah said directly as she handed Hayley the box. "Merry Christmas, Rebekah!" She smiled slightly at Rebekah's directness and opened the box. Inside, was a ruby necklace. "It's not much but with everything going on…this was the best I could do." Rebekah said and Hayley shook her head, bringing her in for a hug. "Thank you! It's beautiful." Rebekah just shrugged and winked. "Made for a Queen." Hayley then got out of bed and went to the closet, and took out what looked like a brown box with ancient designs.

Opening it, Rebekah smiled as she saw what looked like a medium sized elephant statue. "I was told that whoever possessed it, receives good luck from such an elephant. I really hope that's the case." Hayley told her and Rebekah nodded, a couple of tears dripping from her eyes. "It's better than any Prada dress you could have bought me. Thank you, Hayley! And I do happen to adore elephants." "Really? I didn't know that." "No one does. Except Marcel." Rebekah mumbled. Hayley slowly looked away at the disappointment in her voice. She knew how she must have been feeling. Abandoned. "It's going to be okay." Hayley insisted and hugged her tightly. "Yeah, I think so. So, where is my knuckle-headed brother?" Rebekah asked her once she pulled back. Hearing Klaus' name just brought more pain in Hayley's heart. She took Hope in her arms and hugged her tightly.

Rebekah watched her closely and finally whispered, "You really love him, don't you?" "I don't." Hayley snapped almost at once. She didn't want to get hurt. She knew what her feelings were doing inside of her. They were tearing her apart for falling for a man that she shouldn't have. Rebekah raised one of her eyebrows as if she didn't believe her. Pulling out of phone, she showed Hayley the secret recording of hers. _"I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I...I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!"_ Hearing the voice that confessed that she loved Klaus, made her heart swoon. "Why did you do this, Rebekah?" Hayley asked her with a whisper. "Because I have to remind both of you of this!"

"Have you showed him?" Hayley gasped, shocked. "No, of course not. I was planning to because you are never going to be able to express yourself like this to him, but I couldn't because you're my friend." Rebekah answered. "Rebekah, I appreciate you trying to help, but I really think that you should focus more of your relationship with Marcel and leave Klaus to me." Hayley told her, angrily. "I'm sorry. Come on, you have to know that I didn't intend on doing anything to affect you." Hayley held Hope tightly as she stood up from the bed and put on her silky purple robe. "I think we should just go downstairs. I don't want anything to affect Hope's happiness today. It's Christmas, no matter what." Hayley told her, as she left the room. Rebekah sighed in disappointment and went after her.

The tree was bright and gorgeous downstairs and as promised, the whole Mikaelson family was to be gathered in the living room, by the tree to open up presents. Despite their differences and problems with one another, Hayley asked Gia and Camille to join them as well, seeing as how much they meant to Finn and Elijah. Hope was being pampered like a doll, and there was no one stopping her from ravaging all of those presents. She was happy and that was all that mattered to Hayley. "Have you seen Niklaus?" Elijah whispered to her as she was watching Hope play on the ground, by the tree with her new jewelry and dolls. Hayley gently shook her head and though back on how the two of them have been acting with each other for the past couple of days. It was as if they were strangers. How did it start out that way? Hayley felt herself getting warmer by the second as she blushed when she thought about the drunken night between them when she asked him to start a romantic relationship with her for Hope.

_"I can see that you are keeping yourself occupied eying my brother, little wolf." He whispered from behind me and startled me as I turned around to face him. "I was not looking at him." She bluntly stated and Klaus smirked as he slowly nodded his head, looking at her from head to toe. To him, she was the most breathtaking woman at the party tonight. He was throughout happy. New Orleans was his…Hope was back into his arms and his family was whole again. "Power, loyalty, family. Can you believe it, little wolf? I have succeeded." "Yes, you have." Hayley responded, smiling at him, her cheeks turning pink as his legs began to feel like jelly and would have collapsed right there. _

_Before she could say anything else, he was right there in front of her, pinning her to the wall and they had been sped away from the crowd so no one would see them. He gently kissed her lips and she ran her hands over his chest, over his tux as he wrapped his hands around her waist. She kissed him back as she felt the pleasure rise in her. What was going on with her? Why was she behaving this way? She shouldn't. Not with Klaus. Klaus was not any good for her. Elijah was…but they weren't the same. She felt everything that she felt for Elijah, had just disappeared in a couple of months. "I am glad we get to spend Christmas with her this year." Hayley whispered between kisses as Klaus finally released her. _

_They lay their foreheads on one another as they breathed in deeply. He frowned as she smiled. "What are you talking about?" "This year…our first Christmas with Hope." "It was last year, love. We had that bonfire. You…I remember it perfectly well." Hayley bit her lip and said nothing as she looked away. She wanted to tell Klaus the truth about her and Elijah, but she never felt like she could. Every bone in her bone was telling her that she should not tell him, and keep him guessing. She shouldn't let her guard down. Not even now. "Klaus…" He kissed her again before she could continue. She let her lips mold onto his for a minute before pulling away as she felt his hands massaging her thighs under her dress. "What are we doing?" she asked in a breathless tone. "I have no idea, love." He responded and grinned at her. _

_He was in the mood for something. He wanted to be with her in that moment, but she was not going to just sleep with him. No, she couldn't. He could feel her rejection and slowly put her down and took a step away from her. Hayley rubbed her hands together and whispered, "I have a proposition for you." He smiled at that and stepped over to her, caressing her cheek softly. "Which is?" "I want us to have a commitment." Hayley responded. "As in…a relationship?" "Yes. I have been thinking about Hope. She would really benefit from having her parents together. I was hoping that we can try…for her." Klaus nodded and said, "What if nothing works out? Can you imagine what a scandal that will create?" Hayley nodded and said, "But something might come out of this. You never know." He smiled. He was in a very good mood, otherwise, he would have never agreed to this…but he did…because he wanted her. _

Gia walked through the door, holding a present in her hands and Elijah immediately walked over to her, as Hayley remained where she was, with her thoughts about Klaus. "Gia." Elijah whispered, politely greeting her. Gia showed him a small smile as she went over to Hope and handed her the small gift-wrapped present. "For you, precious." Gia whispered and then turned when Elijah put a hand on her shoulder. "I am glad that you're here." They had not spoken much the other night at the feast, especially after the way she had accused him of doing wrong when he slept with his brother's baby mamma. Elijah liked to think that she was a tad bit jealous as well. "I am guessing that you want to talk." Gia told him with her hands crossed over her chest. Elijah smiled and nodded. "That would be lovely."

"So, how are you holding up?" Rebekah asked Hayley, as Hope was opening up her last present. "I am just happy that Hope is happy and…we have a Christmas tree." Hayley replied with a small giggle. Rebekah looked uncomfortable which forced Hayley to ask, "Is something wrong?" "It's just the way I got this tree. It wasn't pretty and I feel awful about it." "What did you do?" "I was pretty desperate to find one last night and incidentally, I saw an old man walking down the street. He was taking a tree home to his family. I wasn't thinking straight when I compelled him and told him to hand over the tree. God, I feel so bloody awful now, Hayley!" Rebekah exclaimed and covered her face. Her friend pulled her in an embrace. "I am sure that there's still time to fix this. His family will understand." "But what about us? We can't just disappoint Hope like this. She loves Christmas trees and you know that." "I am sure we will think of something." The doorbell rang and Cami walked inside with Finn. Finn was holding a present and handed it over to Hayley so she could give it to Hope. "How thoughtful of you!" Rebekah exclaimed sarcastically. Hayley gave her a warning look but Rebekah couldn't care less.

Davina and Kaleb were walking hand in hand towards the Mikaelson house, when Kaleb stopped in his tracks and stopped her from walking too. "What's going on?" Davina asked him, surprised that he stopped. "How long are you going to keep using me like this?" he asked her. "I have no idea what you're talking about." "Come on, Davina! You know exactly what I am talking about. I can see the way you look at him and the way you look at me there is a huge difference." Davina tried to act indifferent so she said, "Yes, there is a difference. I am with you." "But you're still in love with Kol! Admit it! You hold no interest in me. You're just using me to make him jealous! Why don't you just leave me be and let me go and celebrate Christmas with my family instead of living this lie any longer? Save me this torture of watching you eying him, Davina!" The little witch was prepared to say something in her defense but she realized that he was right. Kaleb didn't have to be a pawn in her game. It was not fair. "You're right. Kaleb, I am so sorry. I never meant to drag you along like this." She whispered. Kaleb nodded. "Thank you for your honesty. Goodbye, Davina. And Merry Christmas!"

"I hope that no one succeeded in offering you a better Christmas present than myself." Elijah whispered as he showed Gia to an empty room. She smiled as he handed out a box for her. It was wrapped up with a bow and everything that could make it even more beautiful. "I don't know if I should have this, Elijah." "You haven't even opened it." "You are going to try and convince me to spend Christmas with you, aren't you?" Gia asked him with a smile. "Indeed." Elijah smiled back and Gia finally opened the box and took away the bow, looking down and gasped. "It has been in my family for over 500 years. A vampire pendant, draped in emeralds and diamonds. It fits you perfectly." Gia looked away as tears filled up in her eyes. Elijah took the necklace from her hands and wrapped it around her neck. "It meant for you." He murmured and gently placed a kiss on the back of her neck, making Gia slightly gasp.

She knew that he was going to ask forgiveness through this necklace, but she didn't know if she was going to give it that easily. "Is there anything else I can do to make it up to you? Can you forgive me?" Elijah continued whispering and starting to place gentle kisses on her neck. "I am not going to lie. You're halfway there." Gia responded and wrapped her hands around his neck, leaning forward and kissing his lips. They continued their passionate kisses, until they were soon on the bed and without any clothes on. "What if someone walks in?" Gia asked, a bit shocked that this was happening so soon. He had this effect on her that she didn't know how to push out. She had known of this effect since they first met. "I locked the door. There will be no one bothering us." Elijah whispered and kissed her again. The only thing that Gia had on was the necklace that had started meaning so much for her, knowing it was from the man she loved. Elijah was the one man making her happy since Mark. It was going to be easy to forgive him. And this led her to believe that she was going to end up spending Christmas with him after all. "You're right. This is the best present anyone can offer me." Gia said, which made Elijah laugh.

"Davina!" Kol called out for her when she almost reached the Mikaelson house and she growled, annoyed at him. She really didn't want to deal with his snarky comments right now. He most likely found out that she and Kaleb broke up. "What do you want?" she asked as she turned around. She had her present for Hope in her purse and she was going to offer it to her when she got there. She could see that Kol was also holding some plush toys in a bag and something wrapped up in the other hand. "Presents for Hope?" she asked with a small smile. "Merry Christmas to you too." He said. "Very rude." She whispered and said afterwards, "Merry Christmas, Kol!" "That's the spirit!" he replied, grinning.

"So, what did you get her?" she asked as she watched him fumble with his bag. "As you can see, just something that a girl like her can enjoy at her age." "And what is that thing that you have wrapped up in your other hand?" Kol smirked as he put down the bag with the plush toys and handed the wrapped up present to her. "This is especially for you." "Sweet." Davina replied, with shock on her face as she took the present from him and unwrapped it at once. "A grimoir." She whispered as she looked through it. "Yes. It contains some of the best spells yet that most witches in our time haven't taken the sweet liberty to try them out yet, darling. I just figured you would want it." "Thank you." Davina whispered and gasped when she saw him pulling out some flowers too. "A bouquet just for you, sweetheart." "Trying hard to sweep me off my feet?" "I am. Especially since I found out it's over between you and pretty boy." Kol told her with a grin on his face. Davina smelled the flowers and blushed.

"You know why we broke up, don't you?" she whispered and Kol stayed there for a moment, thinking about it. "Honestly, darling, I haven't taken the liberty of thinking of it. Why don't you inform me of what has been going on?" Davina rolled her eyes as she saw that tease in his eyes. He knew. She knew that he knew about what happened. "Kol Mikaelson, have you been spying on me?" she suddenly exclaimed and punched his shoulder as he laughed. "Hey, love, I was out doing all the shopping I needed. It is not specifically my fault that I found you and honey boy fighting. Curiosity took the better of me." Davina shook her head with a smug look on her face as she dropped everything that she was holding in the snow and came forward to him, grabbing him by the collar and connecting their lips together in a passionate kiss. "You bastard, you know everything." She whispered between their kisses as he grinned.

Rebekah pulled Finn somewhere to talk to him. "What do you want now? I was about to offer Camille my birthday present for her." Finn complained and Rebekah crossed her hands over her chest. "What are you playing at Finn? You haven't been here for ages and now suddenly you show up and you have this fawn over Cami? Why are you using her?" "Why should I be using her? I have fallen for her. That is the truth and we already started a relationship together." "You have got to be joking!" "This is no joke, Rebekah. It is Christmas and I came here because Cami insisted I be with my family on Christmas so we can forgive and forget. I have already spoken to Elijah and he forgave me, Kol doesn't care and now, I wish to settle things with you." "What about Nik?" "I haven't seen him or spoken to him." "Or are you just pissed that Cami likes spending time with him?" "Rebekah, you are trying my patience. Please. It's Christmas. Can we just put it behind us?" Finn was almost pleading with her. Rebekah rolled her eyes and finally nodded as Finn headed back to the living room.

Hayley was holding Hope, as Kol and Davina have finally showed up, as a couple again, with presents and everything. Cami and Finn were ready to announce something when moans and screams could be heard from upstairs. "Is that Klaus?" Cami asked, shocked. Hayley got a lump in her throat as she considered the possibility but Rebekah shook her head. "Nik is not back home yet. Who knows where he could be. I'm betting what we hear are the moans and screams of Gia, who has my brother Elijah on top of her as we speak." "Rebekah!" Hayley snapped at her and covered Hope's ears. "She is too young to understand anything, Hayley. Relax." Finn poured drinks for everyone and raised his glass saying, "I wish my family a Merry Christmas, in hope that it will come to terms to my relationship with Cami!" "Well, congratulations!" Hayley exclaimed and they all clung glasses as Hope started giggling again. But Hayley could see a bit of sadness in her smile. Her father was not there to share these moments with her. "Damn you, Klaus." Hayley mumbled and tried to think of a way to cover up for him for Hope's sake.

Marcel was at Rousseau's drinking up a storm in sadness as Klaus showed up and he was holding tons of bags with him. "A scotch!" he ordered and sat down next to his protégé. "Hey, what are you up to so early in the morning?" Marcel asked him, confused. "I would love to stay and chat, Marcel, but I have a party to get to." Klaus whispered. Marcel got to look at all the presents Klaus had bought for Hope as he drank something to cool him off. "Desperation in the last minute? What is with all this? You don't regularly do this, Klaus." Marcel looked at him, shocked. "That may be so but last night, I had, what you would call, an epiphany. I realized how much both Hayley and Hope mean to me. I never plan on losing them for anything. So, for this one day, I am planning on letting go of my pride and celebrate Christmas the way it should be celebrated. Most importantly, I need to find Hayley and I need to apologize, hoping that it's not too late for her to forgive me." Marcel's eyebrows were raised. "Wow, it must have been more than a simple epiphany that made you realize all of this." "It wouldn't hurt for you to do the same, considering that you are the one who forced Rebekah to end your relationship." Klaus had already finished his drink and stood up; ready to leave when Marcel came after him. He realized he was right.

Klaus had done everything he thought would help him with this. It was Christmas Day and there was already so much that he had thought about doing for her and for their child. But he just had to see them now. Bursting inside of the house, with Marcel after him, they noticed the family sitting in the living room, celebrating something. Klaus' eyes directly met Hayley's and she looked away from him, as Hope started giggling with joy at seeing her father. "Hello, sweetheart!" Klaus exclaimed and took her into his arms, kissing her temple as he thought about the other night. He would never push his daughter away from him. She was his life, the one thing that helped him breathe again, and if it weren't for Hayley, who has offered him this precious gift, Hope wouldn't be in his arms. Hayley was still looking away as Marcel dragged the most gorgeous Christmas tree inside of the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rebekah exclaimed in shock as she went over to him. "I didn't realize you managed to find a tree, sister. Marcel and I thought it would be best we found one." Klaus spoke before Marcel could. "I have searched the whole bloody city for one and at the need, had to steal one from an old man!" Rebekah was beyond furious. "Maybe we should be cool about this." Marcel whispered and came over to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Merry Christmas." He whispered. Rebekah huffed and turned her head around but Marcel pulled it right back and this time kissed her lips to prove his point. "Why don't you and I go and take this tree back to the old man so he can have a good Christmas as well?" he whispered. Rebekah looked at him in the eyes for one moment before whispering, "Fine, let's go." Marcel grinned and took her hand, grabbing the tree in the living room, taking down all the ornaments and leaving with it and Rebekah.

Hope began crying the moment that Marcel disappeared with the tree and Hayley had to calm her down. "Everything is going to be fine, sweetie. We are replacing the tree. See? We have a better looking one over there." Hayley pointed at the other tree that Klaus had just put in the right place and started putting on all the ornaments. Cami, Finn, Kol and Davina came to help as Hayley took a curious Hope to the bag of presents that Klaus had brought with him. "What do we have here, Hope?" Hayley asked her with a smile as Hope started digging through all the toys and jewelry that Klaus had bought for her. "Don't think that I forgot about you, little wolf." Hayley could feel his breath on her neck and closed her eyes before snapping them open and stepping back from him with her hands crossed over her chest. Klaus sighed and took her hand in his. "I would like some privacy between us, love. Come with me. The others can take care of Hope." Hayley wanted to refuse, but she was too curious of what he had to say so she accepted and together, they headed to the art room.

There were many paintings over there, but they were all covered with white sheets. Hayley frowned as she could not understand for one moment until she realized that he probably didn't want anyone looking at his paintings. "What do you want, Klaus? I have to get back to my daughter." "She is our daughter, love." "Really? You have barely noticed she exists for the past few days." "That is not fair. You know that is anything but the truth, little wolf! You are simply upset that I have not offered you the same sort of time and affection." "Go to hell Klaus!" Hayley exclaimed and moved to the door, wanting to leave when he pulled her back to him, stopping her from leaving. She was beyond furious as she gazed at him. Klaus pulled out from his pocket at that moment…Rebekah's phone. "What are you doing?" Hayley asked him. "Making you listen to something I have always wanted to hear from you, little wolf." He gently held her hands with his one arm as he played the recording with his other hand.

_"I want to be loved. I think I deserve it. I don't want to be known as his one night stand or the mother of his child. I want to be known as…the woman he loves because I know that he feels something for me just as I feel something for me. But he just won't give in. He lives with me and treats me like he has treated every single lover in his past life: no commitment, no nothing. Just the sex part which is driving me insane. I want everything. I want the whole package and I...I could have had that with Elijah. Elijah is a wonderful guy and he would have given me love and everything but…I can't help if I am in love with Klaus!" _He couldn't get tired of hearing this. Hayley's eyes filled up with tears as she embarrassed, looked away from him. "How long have you known about this?" Hayley asked in a whisper. "For a couple of days now, love." "And why haven't you told me? Why now? What are you planning?" she asked him.

Klaus smiled lightly at her as her bent over and brushed his lips against her forehead, making her gasp a little, and her eyes were full of passion as he pulled back. "I believe we have both made mistakes in not making our relationship work, little wolf. If you had told me what you felt sooner and I have had the courage to tell you what I feel about you that night we made love, we wouldn't be in this situation." His eyes were full of concern and he looked nervous. "Klaus, are you feeling okay?" Hayley asked, scrunching her eyebrows at this unKlaus behavior of his. He chuckled at the expression on her face and whispered, "Let's just say that last night, I had an epiphany." "Is that so? And what have you realized?" Hayley asked him. "That I shouldn't have made the mistake of pushing you away, ever." He bent over and his lips crashed with hers in seconds. She wasn't going to fight it. She knew deep down now how he felt about her and even if he was not the type to tell her that he loves her, she didn't need it.

He pulled back almost at once and one by one, he started pulling off the sheets on all the paintings that were filling up the room. Hayley gasped and covered her mouth. Every single painting was of her. She was pregnant, with Hope, she was cooking, she was sleeping, she was watching the view from out the window, and everything had her. "Klaus." She finally gasped as he chuckled and came over to her, planting another soft kiss on her lips. "What do you think? Do you like your Christmas present, little wolf?" he asked her and she smiled up at him, nodding. "I don't know what happened to you last night, but I am starting to think that it had a big impact on you." "No. You did. Both you and Hope. My redemption is all hanks to you, love. And that is something that I will forever be grateful for." Hayley bit her lip as she pulled him out of the art room and they headed back to their room.

"I think you might still be curious of what I was doing and what I was hiding in this closet." Hayley said as she started searching through all the clothes inside. "The thought has crossed my mind but after I saw how upset you were with me, I figured I would leave you be." "And you have done well, because otherwise you would have spoiled by Christmas gift for you." Hayley presented him with a leather black box. "Open it." Hayley whispered, excitedly. Klaus did as she said and opened up his present. Inside, he noticed, was the most wonderful necklace he had ever seen. "I know that you always like to wear these things around your neck, and I got you this." Klaus smirked as he noticed two pendants on it. One had a dangerous wolf head, which showed his teeth, and the other, showed a drop of what looked like, blood. "So you never forget that you're both vampire and wolf. You belong to both sides. You represent the balance between the two. You have family with both." Hayley explained.

"As do you, little wolf." Klaus whispered and pulled her in for another passionate kiss, as she played with the hem of his shirt. "Merry Christmas." They whispered to one another simultaneously, laughed together and ended up ripping each other's clothes off. He touched every single part of her body, wanting to know how it felt to be with her so intimately again. They kissed and made love all day. Hope was safe and sound with everyone downstairs and Rebekah needed to knock just once on the door, see that it was locked to understand what was going on, so she left.

Hayley slept peacefully and soundly next to him. He was tired as well, after all the running around town he did and he wanted to sleep as well, when his eyes widened for one moment, as he wrapped his hands around Hayley, pulling her closer and throwing the duvet on top of them. Ansel was at the window, showing Klaus the thumbs-up. "Leave." Klaus mouthed in anger and Ansel chuckled before nodding and making himself scarce. Klaus slowly closed his eyes with a smile as he felt Hayley snuggle against him, her scent making him lose his mind. He knew that she had not completely forgiven him yet and was making an exception for the holidays but he would stop at nothing to make both her and Hope happy again, as they used to be. This certainly was a Christmas to remember.

**A/N: End of the story! Sorry it took me so long to update the last chapter but it was Christmas Day and I was spending time with my family and friends. Hope this was worth the wait.**

**Thank you for reading and please leave a review! **


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